Filipino journalists do not need special attention from the Philippine National Police (PNP). Law enforcers must be busy in maintaining the country’s peace and order.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos recently apologized over plainclothes police officers’ unannounced visits to the houses of some Manila-based journalists, who immediately expressed their concerns on social media, specifically on their right to privacy.
The PNP has ordered its field offices to coordinate with media workers in their areas of jurisdiction following the murder of broadcast journalist Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa in Las Piñas City on Oct. 3, 2022.
Camp Crame’s spokesperson clarified that the order did not include house-to-house visits.
At the local level, the new director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO 7), Brig. Gen. Roderick Augustus Alba, has ordered his deputy official to listen to the concerns of journalists who cover the police beat in Cebu, the Defense PNP Press Corps or Depp.
The dialogue between police beat journalists and the PRO 7 happened on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at the Cebu City Police Office headquarters.
Dialogue is good, but the PNP’s concerns must be focused on crime prevention and law enforcement.
Manila police’s recent action towards journalists could be seen as a publicity stunt.
Police officers are protectors of all, not just of a select group of people. They should also knock on the homes of people living in poor neighborhoods and ask them if they still feel safe.
Visiting journalists’ houses could be seen by ordinary Filipino citizens as special treatment.
If a crime happens, the PNP must solve it without leaving room for doubt—meaning, the case must be airtight.
Solving crimes is one way to make communities safe for Filipinos of all walks of life. Journalists would have peace of mind in carrying out their work.
If there is still a pile of unsolved crimes and most killers get away scot-free, people would still feel unsafe. Distrust in the country’s biggest law enforcement agency then would continue.