De Lima welcomes SC ruling to allow media coverage of her trial
Sen. Leila de Lima is flanked by police escorts as she arrives in court in this file photo taken in July 2018. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)
Senator Leila De Lima welcomed on Thursday the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) allowing media coverage of her trial on drug charges filed against her before the Muntinlupa City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 206.
The SC ruling came after the media were earlier prevented from entering the courtroom, which De Lima said could be due to Judge Lorna Navarro-Domingo’s orders.
“Despite Judge Lorna Navarro-Domingo’s effort to prevent the media from observing the proceedings, I am grateful that the High Court has shown respect to the free press and to my right to an open and public trial,” she said in a statement.
Last June, Domingo denied the written request of a reporter to have access to public case records and be allowed entry inside the courtroom during hearings.
Another letter was written to SC’s Clerk of Court Edgar Archieta on July to appeal for the request due to the “transcendental importance” of De Lima’s trial.
De Lima said the SC has authorized the clerk of the RTC to select for each hearing two to four media companies to access the courtroom, which could be limited to one reporter per each chosen media institution.
De Lima lamented the restriction of media coverage in her court proceedings, and asked if the court wants to hide something from the public.
“Bakit ipinagkakait sa media ang bahagi ng propesyon nilang mabantayan at mailahad ang mga pangyayari sa mga hearing [Why do they deny the media of observing and reporting what happens in the hearing, which is part of their profession]?” she said.
“May kailangan bang itago, pagtakpan o kinatatakutang lumabas sa publiko [Is there anything to be hidden, concealed, or are they afraid that something could be known to the public]?” she added.
The senator also decried the action of authorities in her drug charges, saying they are “getting more and more unreasonable.”
De Lima also filed a 13-page Motion of Inhibition last October, seeking the inhibition of Domingo for her “bias, partiality and acts of prejudgment” against her. /jpv
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