Local groups share these concerns, leading to a recent effort to combat the problem through comprehensive national anti-SLAPP legislation introduced in the Philippine Congress.
Winston & Strawn and the Philippine Anti-SLAPP Law
EDLC was asked by elected representatives and NGO opponents of SLAPP suits in the Philippines to obtain American legal assistance in the effort to enact national anti-SLAPP legislation. At EDLC’s request, a team of lawyers at Winston & Strawn agreed to help.
The lawyers reviewed the draft of the legislation, offered comments, and proposed additional provisions. They also prepared a report on the SLAPP experience in the U.S. and in other countries, as well as analyzing the SLAPP problem under international human rights law. The report has been presented to the Philippine House of Representatives to show the severity of the problem and the need for the proposed legislation. The lawyers have been invited to come to the Philippines to testify before the House of Representatives when the bill is heard.
If the proposed law is enacted, it will mark the first time a country has created national anti-SLAPP law. Whether successful or not, proponents of the law hope that it will spur similar legislative proposals in other countries to help environmental defenders “SLAPP back.”
The Legislature finds that there has been a disturbing increase in lawsuits brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and petition for the redress of grievances.
-California Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 425.16