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Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Editorial: Parliamentary brawls
LAST Monday, two incidents of near altercations and disputes involving media practitioners occurred with one happening at a Provincial Board (PB) session and the other at the City Council.
Though those involved in the entanglements--some of the PB members like Oliver Actub and Councilor Edgar Cabanlas--would stoutly disagree, especially Cabanlas who would point out that Councilor Zaldy Ocon is now a public servant and thus should exercise more circumspection than the average media practitioner.
First off, the PB session unfolded with Actub reminding the board that a reporter, Lito Rulona, was banned from the PB sessions owing to a resolution agreed upon by all the members present in which Rulona was accused of mis-quoting statements issued by some of the PB members.
Apparently having forgotten the resolution still stands, Rulona attended one PB session and was singled out by Actub, who supposedly "reminded" the board of the existing resolution. Though there were no reports of a physical altercation, the situation was tense enough to warrant a resolution from the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines regional 10 chapter condemning the resolution.
Why it was not acted upon immediately by the NUJP is of course subject to discussion but just as our honorable PB members are oftentimes occupied with official business, NUJP members are also busy delivering the news to the public.
At the same time, whoever authored the resolution should have been reminded of the outrage voiced by the public and the media over the Palace's efforts to gag the Cabinet officials through Executive Order 464. Though it only involved one reporter, all legislative sessions including the PB is open to the public and thus access is guaranteed even to the worst political opponents of the PB members.
Concerning Ocon, Cabanlas was unwisely provoked into approaching Ocon who commented on the recent court ruling against the former, Mayor Vicente Emano and the other councilors in relation to the Cogon market development project.
Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and at least the order of business went on though abbreviated.
While legislative sessions in both the City Council and Provincial Board are conducted expeditiously owing to the advantage of the majority any sensitive matters should be dealt with as much maximum tolerance and openness as possible.
In the PB's case it was unnecessary to remind all and sundry that Rulona was banned since it could have been dealt with privately and without humiliating the reporter.
Aside of course from the above-mentioned fact that public access in sessions is guaranteed, any aggrieved provincial government official can seek redress not only to the media outlet where the reporter works but in other media outlets as well.
The same goes for the City Council session, even if Ocon does have a media outlet to speak of. The council in fact and the administration Padayon Pilipino party has its City Information Office to issue press statements to the media.
So for those with an axe to grind against media, it's better to bury that axe and seek redress in some other legal, moral avenue. Otherwise, if one cannot stand the heat, they should stay out of the kitchen.
(September 13, 2006 issue)
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