Janet Lim-Napoles hospital arrest: Guide for male reporters
News directors should inform their male reporters that the uterus (in Filipino: matris or matres) is different from the ovaries so that they would not cause confusion when they are covering the impending temporary hospital arrest of pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles. Magkaiba po ang uterus sa ovaries. Women who have access to health care and get annual diagnostics know this. Apparently, male reporters think those are all one bunch or one basket. The distinction is significant because uterine tumors, called myomas, if non-symptomatic, are benign in 99 out of 100 cases; symptomatic ovarian cysts on the other hand raise some concern from your ob-gynecologist. “Symptomatic” means there is bleeding outsideof the menstrual days, another is abdominal pain, and still another is a dramatic increase in the size of the cyst or tumor – dramatic increase is 50% or more increase in size in three months or so. GMA 7 news anchor Kara David asked the right question when she posed this to the spot reporter (another male reporter): “Ngayonlang ba nakita na may cyst siya o noon pa niya iniinda iyan” (translation: “Has she had the cyst for quite sometime or was it discovered only recently?”). As I said, women who have access to health care know these things. Of course, as expected, none of the male reporters who were there in Camp Crame covering Janet Lim-Napoles knew the right questions to ask of the attending physician and the ob-gynecologists even if they had a chance during the medical briefing. The question from Kara David is significant — if the cyst has been there for a year or more and it is the same in size or with only an insignificant increase in size, it is what doctors call “not remarkable”. In all your medical diagnostics, if you get a “not remarkable”, it doesn’t mean you’re in poor health; on the contrary, it means “normal” or good — everytime you get a “not remarkable” in your medical exam, you should jump for joy then put your palms together in thankful prayer that you’re always in the clear. Compared to most women in this country who do not have access to health care and who are so marginalized that they are not even able to buy a toothbrush for themselves because they use the few pesos they have to buy noodles for their children, Janet Lim-Napoles should consider herself fortunate that she has access to world-class medical care. We all wish her to be in the best of health so that justice, not just poetic justice, could be served.
Bonus questions for media law students. Instructions: For five points, please give your suggested provisions for the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, with the purpose of preventing harassment suits against media practitioners and netizens, bearing in mind the topics taken up in class on defenses in libel/ exemption from punishment (points will be given on a “first-come-first-served” basis: do not repeat answers that have been posted). The bonus points will be added to the examinee’s score for the third quarterly test. Please post your complete answers in the comments section of this post or in your own platform (if the latter: please paste the link in the comments section).You may use a pseudonym (in which case, give R your real name) or your student number. (deadline: 12 noon of Feb. 25, 2014, EDSA people’s uprising anniversary). For ease of evaluating your answers, please use the format provided below and fill in the blanks:
In addition to the grounds provided for in the Rules of Court, the following shall constitute grounds for the dismissal of any libel complaint:
If the statement, communication, report, comment, is:
The investigating prosecutor shall motu proprio dismiss the libel complaint if, on its face, the complaint shows that the complainant or the person subject matter of the statement, communication, report, is a ___________________ or a ____________________ and the statement, communication or report is __________________________________________________________.
For another 5 points, please post or re-post here what you consider as your most “outrageous rant” or expression of disgust, condemnation, disapproval, disparagement, etc., and explain why it a form of privileged fair comment (the commentary should be a minimum of 146 characters/letters). You may use other netizens’ rant or expression of disgust, etc. Do not use posts of professional journalists or columnists. In the second paragraph, explain why the statement is considered a form of privileged fair comment and provide the legal basis. (deadline: 12 noon of Feb. 25, 2014, no extension)
