Media not liable for publishing freeze order on Binay assets—Drilon

Senate President Frank Drilon. PRIB FILE PHOTO

The media could not be held in contempt of court for making public the  freeze order that the Court of Appeals  (CA) reportedly issued on Vice President  Jejomar Binay’s bank accounts, two senators said  on  Wednesday.

“In my view as a lawyer, no. You cannot hold the press in contempt for making that public,” Senate President Franklin Drilon, who served as Justice Secretary during the  time of the late  President Corazon  Aquino, told reporters.

Binay’s  camp invoked  the confidentiality provision under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001when it  warned  the media against   making public the   purported freeze order of the court.

READ:Warning letter from Binay camp

But Drilon explained that under  the law, only employees and  officials  of covered institutions  like banks and  insurance agencies are prohibited from revealing to the public what they report to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

He said another  prohibition of the law was  on the revelation of the filing of a freeze order in the CA.

“That is prohibited, because a revelation of that or a publication of that will allow the subject or the person against whom the petition is filed to just close the account. The filing of the petition cannot be revealed in public and they are prohibited from making that public,”   Drilon said.

“However, once the order is issued for the freeze, there is no prohibition. The confidentiality rule does not apply because then you already infringe on the freedom of the press. There is no more public interest to be served by prohibiting the publication,” he pointed out.

Drilon reiterated that the publication is only prohibited when the petition is being filed, “but once there is an order, the freedom of the press provision will prevail.”

“Meaning, the media has access to the order of freezing because there is no public interest involved. There is no liability,”  the Senate leader added.

Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who is also a lawyer, also believes  that no law has been  violated if the  press was only quoting a freeze order issued by the court.

“Kung kino-quote lamang ay yung freeze order na nanggaling sa Court of Appeals, public instrument at public document yon, walang paglabag sa batas sa aking pananaw,”  Escudero said in a separate interview.

(If they  are simply quoting  the freeze order from the Court of Appeals, it’s a public instrument and public document,  in my view, there’s no violation  of  the  law)

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