The website of Bulatlat, which had been ordered blocked by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) in June, is back online, after the news outlet questioned the directive in court.
On Thursday, Bulatlat鈥檚 lawyers asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 to cite the NTC for indirect contempt over its June 8 memorandum order, which directed internet service providers (ISPs) in the country to block Bulatlat.com and 26 other websites for their alleged links to the communist insurgency.
On Friday morning, Bulatlat.com was back and available for public access, as announced by the news organization on Facebook and Twitter.
鈥淚t was our artist who first saw that the site was accessible again, then we checked and asked the others to check too,鈥� managing editor Ronalyn Olea told the Inquirer in a message.
Esperon鈥檚 letter
It was then National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. who wrote the NTC on June 6 asking the commission to issue such an order. He cited provisions of the Anti-Terror Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479) as well as a resolution by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) which declared the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the New People鈥檚 Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) as terrorist organizations.
The council, the government鈥檚 policymaking body on terrorism, was created by Republic Act No. 9372, or the Human Security Act of 2007, and is headed by the executive secretary, with the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency serving as the secretariat.
Its members include the national security adviser and the secretaries of Departments of Justice, Finance, Foreign Affairs and the Interior and Local Government.
READ: Bulatlat asks court to void NTC order to block websites
Apart from Bulatlat, the NTC, acting on Esperon鈥檚 letter, also blocked the Pinoy Weekly news site, the websites of CPP founding chair Jose Maria Sison and of the NDFP, and the Philippine Revolution Web Central, the CPP鈥檚 website.
Also listed in the NTC order was the International Action Center (IAC), an activist coalition founded in 1992 by former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark.
Although its website remains inaccessible in the country, the group can be followed on social media. According to its Twitter page, 鈥淥ur goal [in the IAC] is the liberation and freedom of all peoples living in the US and around the world.鈥�
Injunction
Thursday鈥檚 petition by Bulatlat鈥檚 lawyers was in line with the writ of preliminary injunction against the NTC which they had earlier sought and was granted by the court on August 11.
READ: QC court orders NTC to stop blocking Bulatlat website
Despite the court order, the staff members said the news site still could not be accessed through some ISPs. This prompted Bulatlat to file a petition asking that the NTC be cited for indirect contempt.
鈥淭his is an initial victory for press freedom and the people鈥檚 right to access credible sources of information,鈥� Bulatlat said in a statement following the website鈥檚 return.
Alternative site
鈥淭he unblocking [of our website] is an affirmation that by fighting back, we can regain our hard-won rights,鈥� it added.
Bulatlat reiterated its demand that the NTC void its 鈥渦nconstitutional and arbitrary鈥� memorandum.
鈥淔ighting terrorism should never be made [as] an excuse for state-sponsored censorship,鈥� the news site said.Pinoy Weekly also plans to hale the NTC to court. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 let this attack go unchallenged,鈥� Neil Ambion, managing editor of Pinoyweekly.org, told the Inquirer.
鈥淩egardless of the way they intend to block Pinoy Weekly, we will exert effort to make sure everyone can still access our site and read our stories and research works,鈥� he added.
READ: NUPL seeks TRO vs NTC order blocking websites with links to terror groups
Meanwhile, Pinoy Weekly has put up an alternative site, Pinoyweekly.net.
Ambion said his news organization鈥檚 main platform remains print, adding that its circulation 鈥渋s continuous and ongoing.鈥�
鈥淲e are working towards the expansion of print and social media of Pinoy Weekly,鈥� he said.