8 theSun | THURSDAY FEBRUARY 26 2009

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Right-of-reply bill threatens press freedom: Media groups

MANILA: A proposed law guarantee-
ing the right of reply to anyone who
feels they have been poorly treated
by the media threatens press freedom
in the Philippines, media groups said
yesterday.
The Right of Reply Bill, which
has wide bipartisan support in
the House of Representatives and
Senate, proposes heavy fines and jail
terms for media groups who do not
comply. A version of the bill has been
passed in the Senate, while the House
is debating a counterpart bill, although
officials said it too is likely to pass.
No date has been given for a
consolidated version of the bill by a
committee of both Houses.
Asked if President Gloria Arroyo
would sign it into law or veto it if
passed by the legislature, her chief
aide Executive Secretary Eduardo
Ermita told reporters it was “specu-
lative” at this point. However, Ermita
urged Congress to take care that the
proposed law does not abridge free-
dom of the press, which would violate
the Philippine constitution.
“The caveat is be sure it will not be an
infringement on the freedom of expres-
sion and the freedom of the press.”
What has worried local and foreign
media groups is the wording of the
bill which says anyone “accused of
a crime or criticised for any lapse in
behaviour” shall be given the right to
reply in the medium that published or
aired the accusation.
“This bill is in direct conflict with
the constitution which guarantees
press freedom. This is just a bill for the
politicians who can say what they like
about anyone or anything in both Houses
where they are protected by privilege but
scream like hell when they are criticised,”
Vergel Santos, chairman of the Busi-
nessWorld editorial board, told AFP.
“This is just another attempt to muz-
zle freedom of speech not only for the
local media but foreign media as well.”
“Once again, press freedom is
under siege from political forces insidi-
ously trying to further their personal
agenda, this time through legislation,”
said Nonoy Espina of the National
Union of Journalists.
The final bill is expected to impose
fines of up to 50,000 pesos (about
RM3,700) for failure to comply or up
to six months in jail. – AFP

Obama: US will emerge

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama that, Obama said more money may be
(pix) struck a balance between grim economic needed to fix debt-laden banks and revive
reality and a more hopeful outlook yesterday the economy, warning that “while the cost of
to try to reassure worried Americans their action will be great, I can assure you that the
country will emerge from crisis “stronger than cost of inaction will be far greater.”
before.” Among others,
Riding high in opinion polls, Obama was But he seemed to take a harder line against

stronger from crisis

careful to include a sober assessment of the
economy in his first speech to Congress, seek-
ing to temper expectations that his administra-
tion’s rescue efforts would yield quick fixes.
But the politician whose memoir was called
The Audacity of Hope was also back in stride,
telling recession-weary Americans they can
expect better days ahead.
“While our economy may be weakened
and our confidence shaken, though we are
living through difficult and uncertain times,
tonight I want every American to know this:
We will rebuild, we will recover,” Obama said
in a televised speech five weeks after taking
office.
“And the United States of America will
emerge stronger than before,” he said to loud
applause from lawmakers, cabinet members
and invited guests.
The Democratic president wasted little time
before levelling a barrage of indirect criticism
at his Republican predecessor George W. Bush
for the country’s economic plight and bloated
troubled US automakers, saying that while
he supports revamping the car business to
make it competitive the government would
not protect the companies from their own
bad decision-making.
Trying to show he will make good
on his promise of fiscal responsibility,
debt, warning that the “day of reckoning” had The primetime State of the Obama said he had identified US$2
arrived. Union-style address to a joint trillion (RM7.4 trillion) in budget cuts
Among others, Obama promised: session of the Senate and over over the next decade.
» A new era of US diplomatic engagement; House of Representatives Obama, who rolls out his first
» No more high school dropouts; » US will comes against a backdrop budget proposal on Thursday, has
no longer ‘hide’ the price of wars; » To seek of growing anxiety across the vowed to halve the US$1 trillion-plus
a cure for cancer ‘in our time’; » Will increase country in the face of the worst annual deficit he inherited
the number of US soldiers and Marines; » To financial meltdown in from Bush by the end
help the car industry » Carbon cap legisla- decades. of his term. - Agen-
tion. While his cies
First and foremost, however, Obama public support
pressed the case for his economic plans is strong, Wall
while laying out a broader agenda, includ- Street remains
ing a much-anticipated push for a healthcare skeptical of his
Go to Sun2Surf
overhaul and a stepped-up US role in the fight economic rem-
for full text of
against climate change. edies. Despite
Obama’s speech

Legless New Zealand woman

briefs
Pakistan disqualifies
opposition leader from office
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court yester-
day barred main opposition leader and former
premier Nawaz Sharif from holding office and
contesting elections, sparking political turmoil in
the nuclear-armed nation.
The court order also applied to his brother
Shahbaz Sharif, leading to the immediate collapse
of his government in the central Punjab province,
Pakistan’s most populous state and the country’s
political heartland.
The government enforced governor’s rule in
Punjab, the regional parliament was suspended
and provincial governor Salman Taseer, a member
of the main ruling Pakistan People’s Party, took
over the powers of chief minister.
“All petitions have been dismissed by the Su-
preme Court,” senior lawyer Akram Sheikh told
reporters in the capital Islamabad.
The move triggered a political showdown as Sharif
accused President Asif Ali Zardari of manipulating the
verdict to throw him out of politics and urged the
nation to rise up against the court order. – AFP
Swiss doctors uncover new
gaming related disease
GENEVA: A 12-year-old girl was ordered to
stop playing video games for 10 days by her
Swiss doctor after it was found that a serious
hand infection she was suffering from was
caused by excessive gaming.
The new infection has since been dubbed
Palmare PlayStation Hidradenitis by Prof Vincent
Piguet from the University Hospital of Geneva.
The girl was taken to her doctor after suf-
fering from painful lesions on her palms for
four weeks, Swiss news agency ATS said.
“They were huge red nodes which were very
spectacular,” Piguet said, adding the girl had
spent hours on her PlayStation.
Piguet and his team concluded that the
tension of the hands on the console and fre-
netic pressing on the buttons had triggered
minuscule cutaneous injuries which were ag-
gravated by sweat. After her 10-day ban from
PlayStation, the lesions went away. – AFP
swims with ‘mermaid tail’
WELLINGTON: New Zealander Nadya Vessey,
who lost her legs in a childhood illness, now
swims like a mermaid – thanks to Oscar-winning
movie special effects wizards Weta Workshop,
according to news reports yesterday.
The workshop, which won Oscars for their
effects on The Lord of the Rings trilogy, made a
mermaid wetsuit for her, complete with fishtail,
which she tested in a Wellington pool.
Weta costume-maker Lee Williams said she
wanted Vessey to be “beautiful and sexy” in the
suit, which contains plastic moulds and has hand-
painted fish-like scales. – dpa
German court upholds sacking
of cashier over RM6 theft
BERLIN: A German court confirmed on Tuesday
that a supermarket which sacked a cashier for
stealing coupons worth just €1.3 (RM6) was
within its rights, in a case which has aroused
debate in Germany.
The 50-year-old woman burst into tears at
the employment tribunal, where she had taken
the case after being dismissed a year ago.
The case has seen various solidarity cam-
paigns for the unnamed woman, nicknamed
“Emmely”, who had worked for the store for
more than 30 years. The judges on Tuesday
endorsed the decision of the supermarket,
saying the theft proved she could not be
trusted with the supermarket takings. – dpa
Aussie firefighters race
to beat new danger
MELBOURNE: Reinforcements were called in
to the fight against Australia’s deadly wildfires
yesterday in a race to build defences ahead of a
dangerous new blast of searing heat and wind.
Scores more firefighters from New Zealand
and across Australia were to join more than
3,000 already battling seven major blazes in
Victoria state, where more than 200 people have
been burned to death, officials said.
The lethal combination of high temperatures
and strong winds which sent walls of flame roaring
through towns and villages on Feb 7 are forecast to
return tomorrow, though not to the same degree.
“People need to be prepared, need to be
alert, be vigilant,” said Bruce Esplin, Victoria’s
emergency services commissioner. – AFP