Robin Padilla seeks probe on SMNI suspension

Senator Robinhood "Robin" C. Padilla is seeking a Senate investigation into the possible violation of press freedom in the continued indefinite suspension of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).

On Sunday, Padilla filed Senate Resolution 1000 in which he pushed for a Senate investigation on the matter, in aid of legislation.

"The imposition of baseless suspension orders on SMNI not only constitutes a denial of due process but also an erosion of press freedom," Padilla said as he directed the Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, which he chairs, to conduct the inquiry.

Padilla stressed that the right of the people to public information "should not be unduly curtailed" because access to information on matters of public concern and of "general interest" can help people in democratic decision-making "by giving them a better perspective of vital issues confronting our society."

In his resolution, Padilla noted that the Supreme Court (Chavez vs Gonzales, 2008) declared that freedom of the press is "crucial and so inextricably woven into the right to free speech and free expression, that any attempt to restrict it must be met with an examination so critical that only a danger that is clear and present would be allowed to curtail it."

He added that the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which suspended SMNI's operations since the end of 2023 and issued an indefinite suspension against it last January, failed to indicate why it needed to do so, "much more express how this is necessary to avoid serious and irreparable damage or inconvenience to the public or to private interests." — DVM, GMA Integrated News