Philippine daily

Philippine daily sued for sedition

MANILA (AP): A former law professor sued the Philippine Daily Inquirer -- accused by President Joseph Estrada of mounting a smear campaign against him -- for allegedly inciting sedition, the newspaper reported on Thursday.

Lawyer Perfecto Fernandez, who taught constitutional and mass media law at the University of the Philippines until his retirement in 1996, said he filed the charge to protect the presidency -- not Estrada personally.

Fernandez said he is a regular reader of the paper, and over the past six months has been "dismayed and distressed at the train of front page stories assailing and attacking President Estrada not only in his public actuations but with distinct emphasis on his private life and affairs as well".

He cited the paper's stories about Estrada's extramarital affairs. Estrada himself says he is a reformed womanizer.