Wednesday, November 05, 2008 Journalists' group blacklists colonel By Ben O. Tesiorna
THE National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) has declared an Army colonel as persona non grata after the officer allegedly threatened a radio reporter last week.
The reporter was covering the fire that razed an ammunition dump in Camp Siongco, headquarters of the 6th Infantry Division, in Awang, Maguindanao when allegedly threatened by the Army officer.
The Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, said the 6th ID is now conducting an investigation.
In a statement, NUJP said Colonel John Oswald Bucu, chief of the Army's 6th ID's Headquarters Service Battalion, berated Loreto Rosario, reporter of radio station dxMS and member of the NUJP chapter in Cotabato City, for calling him an "intruder".
Bucu allegedly confiscated the reporter's press card and mobile phone, and then brought him to the office of division spokesman Colonel Julieto Ando, where he continued to lambaste Rosario.
For this, the Cotabato City chapter of the NUJP has declared Bucu persona non grata and demanded his personal apology. Its members have also agreed to boycott coverage of the division until 6th ID chief, General Raymundo Ferrer, is replaced for his lack of action on the incident.
"The NUJP national office is demanding that the AFP impose strong sanctions against Bucu for his clear assault on press freedom, as it noted this is not the first time the colonel has targeted journalists," the media group said.
In a text message, EMC spokesman Major Randolph Cabangbang said that Bucu has a job to do as a camp commander and that in situations like fire incidents, "it is his responsibility to quarantine the area to prevent injury to persons who are not supposed to be there."
"But it is also his responsibility to implement the rules in a civil manner. I'm sure the commander of the 6th ID had taken steps to correct the misunderstanding as soon as the matter reaches his office," Cabangbang said.
It was learned that two years ago, at a gathering of reporters at the headquarters of the Army's 602nd Brigade in Carmen, North Cotabato, Bucu branded NUJP Kidapawan chapter president and Sun.Star correspondent Malu Cadelina Manar, program director of Catholic station dxND in North Cotabato, as a "member" of the New People's Army.
