Truth Telling and other Perils in “Democratic” Philippines 205 on the Commission on Elections, and Article XVI prohibiting foreign media ownership (Teodoro and Kabatay 2006; all information on Philippine laws relating to the press and media are from this source). The present Philippine Constitution was drafted by a Constitutional Commission in the aftermath of the 1986 “People Power” military-civilian uprising that removed the Marcos dictatorship from power. Although it included representatives from the Marcos regime as well as traditional politicians, the majority of the members of the Commission were drawn from the ranks of the anti-Marcos resistance. These Commissioners put together a Constitution that would, among other progressive aims, supposedly prevent the rise of another authoritarian regime and the use of government power to suppress citizen rights. The late lm director Lino Brocka, for example, who was noted for his social realist lms and who was involved in numerous demonstrations, pickets and other forms of protest against the Marcos government, was a member of the Commission, and responsible for adding the phrase “of expression” in Section 4 of Article III (The Bill of Rights) in what has come to be known as the 1987 “People Power Constitution.” Section 7 goes further by enshrining in the basic law the right to information: “The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized. Access to ofcial records, and to documents, and papers pertaining to ofcial acts, transactions, or decisions, as well as to government research data used as basis for policy development, shall be afforded the citizen, subject to such limitations as may be provided by law.” The right to information is a general principle mandated in Article II (Declaration of Principles): “… the state adopts and implements a policy of full public disclosure of all its transactions.” This right is critical to the media's discharge of its fundamental duty to provide the citizenry with the information it needs for it to make informed decisions on matters of public interest and policy. Through its relevant rulings the Philippine Supreme Court has dened the right to information as consisting of: 1) The right to information on matters of public concern; and 2) The corollary right of access to ofcial records and documents. In addition to the Constitution, the other legal sources affecting the mass media in the Philippines are the revised Penal Code (with provisions on national security, libel and obscenity); Chapter 2 of the Civil Code (which contains two articles on privacy), the Rules of Court (fair administration of justice and contempt) and a number of presidential decrees from the Marcos period that are still in force. There is also a “shield law“ (Republic Act 53 as amended by RA 1477), which provides in Section 1 protection for journalists' non-disclosure of the sources of their information. There are no licensing, registration or membership requirements in any