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Media lash back at Arroyo

Get even with Macapagal-Arroyo

BAGUIO CITY (Nov. 11) — Three of the country’s top journalists and media personalities including ABS-CBN top brass Eugene Lopez III hit Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as they reacted to the president’s keynote address during the 31st top-level management conference of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) at the CAP Convention Center at Club John Hay here. Arroyo’s smiles could not hide her fury as she defended the presidency when she implicated a broadcast journalist in the “bailing out a suspected terrorist” and “the media being part of the national malaise” even as she asked the 4th estate to “cast aside its bad boy image”.

Dean Luis V. Teodoro told the Baguio media that the president’s pronouncements are bothersome referring to PGMA’s lashing at media who cover kangaroo courts, lynch mobs and witch hunting. Teodoro, a pre-eminent journalist and educator, who teaches at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications, is also at the conference as a lecturer on Philippine media and politics.

Business world editorial consultant and columnist Vergel Santos, a journalism book author and lecturer, said PGMA looked liked she wants to rewrite the terms of engagement between the media and government.

“She cannot do that, (because) it has been set by tradition and wisdom through the ages,” Santos told reporters, adding that the “TOE is a democracy deal and part of that deal is press freedom”. Santos said PGMA’s stance makes us wary of people we are talking to, “Baka (Maybe) these are terrorists.

Like Teodoro and Santos, Sheila Coronel, who heads the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said the president has the right to say what she wants to say but she must not tell media what to say on what she said.

In less than an hour after she had left the podium, ABS-CBN chairman Eugene Lopez III lashed back at PGMA as he appealed to public officials to refrain from unduly tarnishing the reputation of broadcasters with unfounded accusations. Lopez, one of the speakers in the conference, said that the “Philippine media is being unjustly vilified by those whose interest lies in the continued suppression of the truth” taking as context the country’s “unsettled political and economic situation.

“We can easily be accused, as we often are, of aggravating the situation at hand,” Lopez said. While he admitted that “we ought to exert more efforts towards greater ‘professionali-zation’ of our practitioners”, he said it is unfair to accuse the more critical broadcasters of any sinister motive.

Reporting on a wrong clue

In her fighting mood, the president justified having disclosed an intelligence report that a broadcaster helped bail out suspected terrorist Dawud Santos implicitly referring to ABS-CBN reporter Julius Babao.

She defended her move as part of her campaign against terror, a fight she considers the duty of her presidency. Her administration’s draft of the anti-terror bill is reportedly now in congress for floor debates.

The National Union of Journalist of the Philippines (NUJP) claims that she (Arroyo) was criticized for the disclosure of the “intelligence report” against Babao because the report she received is wrong.

“Madam President, your intelligence report was wrong. When the media reported Babao’s denial, they were not criticizing you, they were telling you (that) the information you got from your people was wrong. The media were reporting a story,” the NUJP statement reads..

The media also disagrees with the president’s view on media’s involvement in negative reporting.

Teodoro said in a break-up forum in the KBP conference “there is so much bad news happening now,” that when media reports these tend to be the order of the day. He said both good news and bad news sell among readers.

He advised the media to educate the public on the context behind the news because it is easy for people to make certain claims, but the reporter has to discern what news to report on.

Santos said he wants to remind the president that one of the basic roles of media is to inform the public of the truth, which he said, lies in transparency.

He said, the more the president stonewalls the presidency, the more she losses credibility as he quoted that PGMA does not want to say anything that will put her in a bad light.

Oppose the Anti-terrorism bills

The administration’s anti-terror campaign was also hit by media as contradictory to press freedom.

Professor Luis Teodoro shared to KBP in his talk the effect of the anti-terror bill to journalism, including its very broad definition where any government critic can be considered as terrorist. He said it affects media security.

He adds that if the bills have been passed into law, Babao’s overzealousness at getting to the core of facts surrounding the Dawud bail can be considered as an aid to terrorism.

“Kulong siya,” (He could land in prison) Teodoro said. Under the ATB, terrorism as a crime is unbailable and an alleged terrorist can be arrested without warrant and detained for 15 days without warrant.

Santos said all journalists must read the anti-terrorism bills and must oppose.

NUJP also claimed that until now, the P5 million that Arroyo put up for slain journalists has not been released. Coronel corroborated saying it is an earlier Press Freedom Fund for Philippine Journalists facilitated by media groups and coursed through the government by an international media watchdog.

They refuted the data presented by the president as to journalist cases solved and presently tried. The NUJP Baguio-Benguet chapter claimed that to their records, the only case considered solved was the case of Rey Pedronio of Sunstar. They added that that at least seven journalists were killed during this year alone.

PGMA left immediately after she addressed a close door KBP Board meeting, followed by a ceremonial opening of the country’s first digital radio at Club John Hay. # Arthur Allad-iw and Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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