Judge scolds journalists for taking footage of trial
SEVERAL reporters covering a trial at the Palace of Justice yesterday were scolded by a Cebu City judge who saw TV crews taking video footage in his court room.
Judge Oscar Andrino of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 5 blew his top after he saw the news crews of three TV stations taking video footage of an ongoing trial from the doorway.
Andrino summoned five reporters and scolded them for filming the proceedings without his permission.
The journalists were covering the trial of a former public school teacher accused of hitting a deaf-mute student with a hammer.
“Stand here in front,” said the judge.
“What are you doing there? You look like paparazzis. Explain or I will cite you in contempt,” he added.
Andrino asked five reporters to identify themselves in open court while the camera crew waited outside.
The judge gave journalists a tongue lashing and read aloud a ruling of the Supreme Court on video coverages during trial.
The judge said video footage and photos can be taken only before and after the hearing.
“You should ask permission. Don’t abuse your being so-called journalists,” he said.
In the Cebu courts, the policy of allowing news photographers and camera crews to take images in a court room vary from judge to judge. Some prohibit any photos taken at all while a hearing is in progress, others allow it with varying degrees of liberality. Some strictly require prior permission, others don’t.
Carmi Cavanlit of ABS-CBN said she had asked permission beforehand from the clerk of court to take a video of the courtroom before the actual hearing started but the judge noticed TV cameras shooting from the door during the actual trial.
She apologized to the judge “for the inconvenience.”
The judge retorted: “This is not an inconvenience. This is a disturbance.”
He didn’t proceed with citing the journalists in contempt – an offense that could have drawn a fine or time in jail – and let them all go after the apology.
They were Katreena Bisnar of TV5, Astra Zina Logarta of Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN), Cavanlit of ABS-CBN, Mylen Manto of The Freeman, and Ador Vincent Mayol of Cebu Daily News.
In the hearing, the school teacher who is facing charges of slight physical injuries was willing to settle the case with the victim.The boy’s family, however, refused to settle the case out of court.
(CDN reporter Ador Vincent Mayol filed this account of the courtroom drama. – Editors)
