THE decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to issue a freeze order against Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) is a clear suppression of free press.
Last week, the CA granted the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) request for a freeze order on the accounts and properties of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), and SMNI.
“This means that when your bank accounts are frozen, it really suppresses the free speech and press freedom of SMNI,” according to Atty. Harry Roque, Former Presidential Spokesperson.
Roque further added that many ordinary employees of the station would be affected by the freeze order.
“Since SMNI is a media outfit, if you take away its bank account, how will it pay its employees? How will they be paid? What will be used to pay for their transmission?” Atty. Roque added.
Aside from SMNI, Roque also criticized the freezing of KOJC’s account.
“It’s stated in the Constitution that due to the separation of church and state, churches are not taxed. If they’re not taxed, why would you freeze their account as a church?” Roque added.
The legal counsel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) had earlier questioned the legality and basis of the 20-day freeze order from the Court of Appeals.
“There are indeed many interesting issues here. And if you look at it legally, the basis should be the Anti-Human Trafficking Act by Blenda Portugal. If you read that law, criminal forfeiture would only happen if there is already a conviction. There should already be a conviction. But here, there isn’t any. There hasn’t even been a trial, and we’re still filing a motion to quash, yet it’s already in place. And by the way, their basis comes from the United States of America. I look forward to the day that we will appear in Court and argue on the legal basis on which they rely upon in the filing of this petition,” stated Atty. Israelito Torreon, Legal Counsel, KOJC.
Roque believes that politics is behind all the pressure against Pastor Apollo, SMNI, and even the Dutertes.
“It’s clear. The harassment against Pastor ACQ, the attacks on my character, the mudslinging against VP Sara, the cases filed against Cong. Pulong, Mans Carpio, and the threats to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte for not appearing before Congress and due to the ICC – all of that is political,” Roque said.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) had earlier imposed an indefinite suspension on SMNI, despite there being no sufficient reason or basis to do so.
