'Collective win': Bulatlat gets court order to stop NTC blocking

Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<p><br/>MANILA — A Quezon City court has granted independent media Bulatlat&#x27;s plea for a writ of preliminary injunction to stop the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from enforcing its order blocking its website.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">BREAKING: Quezon City court grants Bulatlat&#x27;s plea for a writ of preliminary injunction to stop the National Telecommunications Commission from enforcing its order blocking its website while the case is ongoing. <a href="https://t.co/c5CmDlVEXq">pic.twitter.com/c5CmDlVEXq</a></p>— Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo/status/1557653132598865920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2022</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>In an order issued Thursday, August 11, Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 Judge Dolly Rose Bolante-Prado ordered the issuance of the injunction order over the June 8, 2022 NTC memorandum &quot;as it orders the blocking of the plaintiff’s website, bulatlat.com.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The writ of preliminary injunction shall remain effective until final adjudication of the merits of the main case has been made,&quot; she said.</p><p>The issuance of writ of preliminary injunction in favor of Bulatlat is however conditioned on posting of a P100,000 bond to answer for damages defendants might suffer because of the injunction.</p><p>Bolante-Prado said Bulatlat has established a clear and unmistakable right to publish, impart, circulate and disseminate opinion, commentaries and other information and the NTC&#x27;s blocking memo curtails this right to free speech and of the press.</p><p>Bulatlat presented its managing editor Ronalyn Olea who testified that she and some writers and contributors of Bulatlat cannot access their website and publish news and commentaries without using a VPN.</p><p>It also presented 3 other witnesses who cannot access the website, to counter the defendants’ position that the website can still be accessed.</p><p>&quot;Evidently there is violation or curtailment of plaintiff’s right to free speech and of the press when its publisher’s and reader’s access to its website was limited,&quot; the court said.</p><p>&quot;To the court, any limitation or restriction in the exercise of one&#x27;s right, no matter the extent, and for even minimal periods of time, is a form of deprivation, and, clearly, a violation of such right. The violation itself is damage enough on the one restrained which cannot be quantified or measured in terms of monetary value,&quot; it added.</p><p>The same court earlier denied Bulatlat&#x27;s plea for a temporary restraining order (TRO) after finding that Bulatlat&#x27;s website can still be accessed by the judge and the defendants.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/13/22/court-denies-bulatlat-tro-plea-vs-order-to-block-websites">Quezon City court denies Bulatlat’s TRO plea vs NTC order to block websites</a></li></ul><p>Bulatlat insisted that while some could access its website, it has lost 43 percent of its unique visitors since the NTC issued the blocking order. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/22/22/bulatlat-asks-court-to-reverse-denial-of-tro-vs-ntc">43 pct visitors lost: Bulatlat asks QC court to reverse denial of TRO vs NTC</a></li></ul><p>It asked the court to reconsider the TRO denial but with the issuance of preliminary injunction order, the court said the issue is already moot.</p><div><strong>REACTION</strong></div><p>Reacting to the ruling, Bulatlat thanked the judge for &quot;upholding press freedom.&quot;</p><p>It also thanked its lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, fellow journalists and other supporters.</p><p>&quot;It is indeed a collective win for the Philippine independent media. This decision reaffirms the power of solidarity and the righteousness of pushing back against all attempts at muzzling the press,&quot; she said.</p><p>Aside from Bulatlat, NTC ordered the blocking of more than 20 other websites of groups allegedly affiliated with or supported communist rebel groups earlier designated as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council.</p><p>It was based on the letter of then-National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. who cited 3 resolutions of the Anti-Terrorism Council designating the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New Peoples&#x27; Army and the National Democratic Front and some of their alleged members as terrorists.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/22/22/govt-urged-to-block-access-to-websites-of-cpp-npa-bulatlat">Gov&#x27;t urged to block access to websites of CPP-NPA-NDF, Bulatlat</a></li></ul><p>But Bulatlat said it was neither an affiliate or supporter of the 3 groups, nor was it named in the ATC&#x27;s resolutions.</p><p>It challenged the NTC order claiming the regulator has no power, whether under its own law and rules or under the Anti-Terrorism Act, to block access to websites. </p><p>The only consequence of being designated as a terrorist under the law is for authorities to freeze bank accounts.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/08/22/bulatlat-asks-court-to-stop-ntc-order-blocking-its-website">Bulatlat asks court to nullify NTC order blocking its website</a></li></ul><p>Bulatlat also complained it was not afforded due process because it was not allowed to present contrary evidence before the blocking order was issued and implemented.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/23/22/bulatlat-says-no-due-process-before-blocking-of-website">Bulatlat says no due process before blocking of website, eyes legal action</a></li></ul><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2090585" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A Quezon City court has granted independent media Bulatlat's plea for a writ of preliminary injunction to stop the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) from enforcing its order blocking its website.

'Collective win': Bulatlat gets court order to stop NTC blocking | ABS-CBN

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'Collective win': Bulatlat gets court order to stop NTC blocking

'Collective win': Bulatlat gets court order to stop NTC blocking

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 11, 2022 06:20 PM PHT

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National Telecommunications Commission

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