Broadcaster dodges contempt rap over Zaldy interview

MANILA, Philippines - Broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna and the ABS-CBN television network dodged a contempt charge filed by the private prosecutors in the Maguindanao massacre trial.

The case stemmed from the July 11, 2011 exclusive interview of Taberna and his news crew with suspect Zaldy Ampatuan, in which the latter expressed his interest in becoming a state witness in the multiple murder case.

In a three-page order released on Friday, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Assisting Judge Genie Gapas-Agbada “closed and terminated” the contempt case lodged by the private prosecutors against Ampatuan, Taberna, ABS-CBN, and former jail warden Bernardino Edgar Camus.

The private prosecutors, in a motion dated July 28, 2011, claimed that the interview, done at the Quezon City Jail-Annex compound in Camp Bagong Diwa, was unauthorized by the court and violated the sub judice rule.

Responding to the motion, Ampatuan claimed that Bureau of Jail Management and Penology personnel did not raise any objection during the interview and he did not disclose anything that could prejudge the outcome of the case.

Taberna also stressed that they construed as “blanket and standing authority” the permission given by the court to ABS-CBN to interview Ampatuan.

He added that the subject interview did not touch on the merits of the case.

During the interview, Ampatuan was quoted as saying, in Filipino, that he is “willing to testify and speak the truth, even if my testimony will involve my father and brother.”

He was referring to his co-accused, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr.

Based on the court’s ruling, Gapas-Agbada found the explanation of the parties involved as satisfactory, noting that the ABS-CBN interview was done in good faith and that it has not touched the merits of the case.

“Considering that the subject interview did not touch on the merits of the case, the court is inclined to be more lenient for this particular incident,” read the order.

“Indeed, a lawyer’s remarks on a case, or the remarks of Zaldy Ampatuan in these cases, do not necessarily assume the level of contempt that justifies the court’s exercise of the power of contempt,” it added.

With the ruling, Gapas-Agbada said the matter should now be considered closed and terminated.