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Cuffing the Press Makati Regional Trial Court judge Reynaldo Laigo may or may not know it but his decision dismissing the class suit filed by journalists against the police has grave implications on the freedom of the press. Journalists filed charges against the police for cuffing, manhandling and herding them off to Bicutan for insisting on covering the Manila Peninsula standoff up to its final conclusion despite police orders to clear the area. The decision practically gives the police the authority to bar the media from covering critical events and to arrest those who refuse to follow its orders. This does not only give the Arroyo administration the power to gag the media, but worse, it gives it the authority to cuff the press. BY FLON FAURILLO ( categories: )
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