SC asked to tap gov’t comms agencies for Maguindanao massacre promulgation

MANILA, Philippines–The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to allow government communication agencies to cover live the promulgation of the Maguindanao massacre case on Dec. 19.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Jose Joel Sy Egco said the Maguindanao massacre case is one of the many cases being monitored by the task force, with 32 of the 58 victims being journalists.

“In this regard, may we respectfully request your good office to allow the government communications agencies (PCOO, Radio Television Malacañang [RTVM], Philippine News Agency [PNA], People’s Television-4 [PTV-4] etc.) to cover the said event so that the proceedings can be aired on all government traditional and social media platforms,” Egco said in his two-page letter to SC Court Administrator Jose Midas Marquez.

“We are making this humble request for and on behalf of government media agencies, as PCOO is the co-chair of the Task Force,” he added.

The Quezon City regional trial court is set to hand down its decision on Dec. 19, after weighing the testimonies of over a hundred accused and voluminous evidence spanning 10 years of trial.

Aside from the PTFoMS, various media organizations already filed their petitions calling for live coverage of the Maguindanao massacre promulgation.