THE Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ) hails as a triumph for free expression and press freedom the declaration by the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which was adopted during the 103rd session of the United Nations, that the provisions of the Philippines’ Revised Penal Code (RPC) penalizing libel as a criminal offense is “incompatible with Article 19, paragraph three of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)” to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Recalling its General Comment No. 34 that “state parties should consider the decriminalization of defamation” the UNHRC also recommended the decriminalization of libel in the Philippines, as the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has been urging for nearly two decades. It also recommended the review of the libel law, and urged the Philippine government to compensate Adonis for time served in prison.

The Philippines is up 16 places in the 2011 Press Freedom Index released by Reporters sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders, RSF).

PCIJ will conduct another briefing on January 27. Go to http://pcij.org/blog/2012/01/13/do-the-saln-salsa-with-pcij to know more.

It has been seven days since the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona started.

Since Jan. 16, CMFR has been asking online media users their thoughts on the press coverage of the impeachment trial. CMFR has also asked their opinion on the role of the press in the issue.

So far, these are some of the concerns raised on the press and its coverage.

Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility Executive Director Melinda Quintos de Jesus reacts to the presentation of University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication Dean Rolando Tolentino on the freedom of information during the Salvador P. Lopez Centennial Academic Conference, Jan. 19.

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A newspaper publisher in General Santos City claimed he received a threatening text (SMS) message last 17 January 2012 after calling for the arrest of the killers and masterminds in the murder of a fellow publisher last 5 January 2012.

CHEERS TO online news sites Bulatlat.com and InterAksyon.com for dedicating a page containing reports and analyses on the Hacienda Luisita issue.

Jeers to Newsbreak for its incomplete report on the contraceptive ban in Bataan where seven barangays in Bataan passed an ordinance which banned the sale of modern forms of contraception in their community.

Cheers to Reporter’s Notebook for highlighting something not normally in the press radar: the continued crimes against deaf women in the country and the need for interpreters in court cases involving the deaf.

Cheers to Reporter’s Notebook for its Nov. 1 special report “Nilapastangang Bangkay (Desecrated Corpses)” that reported on how the dead are sometimes used to hold illegal gambling operations, among others.