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.