WHILE a Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) official was initially alarmed by the Oct. 4 visit of two uniformed police officers to SunStar Cebu’s office and their request to photograph reporters and editors, he said the incident shall have to be considered innocent for now.
Lawyer Pachico A. Seares, CCPC executive director, said that like any other government office, the Philippine National Police (PNP) may just want to reach out to the media to get a better press.
Seares said journalists are assumed to know how to deal with public relations efforts from any quarter. “The police, of course, have equipment and means that other state agencies do not have: they can threaten and carry out the threat. That’s why media must be wary, especially in ‘these troubled times,’” he said.
“We still have to know if the visits to media outlets in Cebu have gone beyond the usual courtesy call and coordination on information flow. The fact is, as of today, we know of no reported incident in Cebu that may be deemed an overt act of intimidation or repression by the police against the media,” Seares said.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas denied they visit media outlets to solicit favorable reports. He said he will not force the media to write anything good about PRO 7 because the PRO 7 has a public relations officer to do that. Forcing the mainstream media to write good news about the police is “not good and not their business.”
“I just give you what you want. That’s how transparent I am. And I will not tell any of my personnel to talk only of good things about us. You write stories, good or bad. As long as they’re true, it’s fine,” he said.
Sinas said that what they cannot give to the media are information that affect national security, including information about criminals. On police’s taking pictures of journalists, Sinas said he is not alarmed by it. He said the media take pictures of the police; the police take pictures of the media.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) had released a statement asking about the police’s visits to media outlets.
“We appreciate NUJP’s alert response. But we owe the police the ‘benefit of the doubt’ until they show acts, direct or implied, to intimidate or repress media. Still, the NUJP warning is useful to the working press and the public that media serve,” Seares said.
Seares asked Sinas at a recent Cebu Press Week forum if journalists are safe from arrest. Sinas said, “Yes, for now.” In jest or not, that certainly tells media not to be napping, Seares said (EOB, KAL)