Press club protest starts to snowball

By CONG B. CORRALES
Associate Editor

THE Cagayan de Oro Press Club’s protest over what it saw as “discrimination” and an attempt to limit media coverage of the Feb. 21 presidential debate here has stirred a maelstrom of support from different groups in the city as well as national media organizations.

In a letter to the organizers of the presidential debate, Balay Mindanaw chairman emeritus Charlitos Manlupig “politely declined the offer to sit in the event.”

“We hope that you understand that our decision is in solidarity with the local groups who we believe represent the legitimate concerns of communities in Mindanao,” Manlupig wrote.

Manlupig wrote the letter in consideration of the position of COPC “as well as, communities who feel marginalized by the exclusivity of this Sunday’s Pilipinas Debate 2016.”

On Saturday, the COPC board expressed serious concerns over what it considered to be an attempt to bar the provincial press from covering the first presidential debate scheduled at the Capitol University (CU) on Sunday.

“We see this to be a clear case of discrimination towards the province-based media,” reads part of the COPC statement signed by COPC president Msgr. Elmer Abacahin and outgoing president Jerry Orcullo.

The COPC called on organizers to lift the “exclusivity clause” and to allow full coverage by the local press.

The organizers of the debate are the Commission on Elections (Comelec), GMA 7, Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP).

In a letter to the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), KBP executive director Reynaldo Hulog said organizers have allotted only five slots for local editors and publishers as debate audience, and five more slots for newspaper reporters who would only be allowed in a designated media center where a video monitor would broadcast feeds of the presidential debate.

Reads another portion of the COPC statement: “It is our position that the presidential debate is far too important, and should be beyond corporate media’s quest for higher ratings and wider readership… (It) is an affront to the local press community to limit the number of newspaper reporters… and for the rest to be stifled into covering the event from a widescreen monitor. Why hold the debates here in the first place when the organizers can just as easily broadcast the debate from their studios in Manila?”

The COPC added: “Manila-based media entities should realize that they do not have the monopoly of serving public interest. The people’s right to know must weigh far heavier than any media entity’s exclusive rights to an event that is clearly of national interest. We are talking about the next possible President of the Republic. We are all stakeholders.”

GMA 7’s corporate communications executives however said 25 slots in the debate venue have been reserved for the Cagayan de Oro and Davao media, including organized bloggers in this city and Bukidnon. This paper was also informed that 13 slots would also be allotted for the Cagayan de Oro Press Club.

The Philippine Press Institute (PPI) appealed to the debate organizers to consider the call of the COPC to allow the smooth coverage of the event in the debate venue.

“This is a historical and significant event, we deem important the participation of media,” reads PPI’s statement reads.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) shared the concern of COPC that the “exclusivity clause” could stifle the coverage of the event.

“We agree with the COPC that the process of choosing who next to lead our country is so important as to warrant setting aside corporate interests and professional rivalries in favor of informing the broadest segment of the public,” the NUJP statement reads.

Blogger Eugene Kanlapan expressed his solidarity with the local press community by convincing organized bloggers to boycott the debates all together.

“I’m trying to convince even the bloggers to boycott and even stay away from the live coverage on TV. (I) hope this can help,” Kanlapan posted on his Facebook wall.

For her part, Bae Rose Undag, a member of the Philippine Commission on Women and Indigenous People’s Council, expressed her willingness to support the call to boycott the debate.

“Gi-invite ra (ba mi) mga IPs sa GMA 7 presidential debate. Is that OK? Kay kung dili, akong inform akong mga tribal leaders not to attend karong Feb. 21,” Undag commented on a Facebook thread.

Yesterday, Hulog e-mailed the directors of COPC to inform them that the organizers have relented to give 200 slots for the local press but only in the designated media center, and not in the debate venue.

Davao-based journalist Carolyn Arguillas said if the debate in Cebu next month would be handled the same way, then “hold all rounds (of the debates) in Manila.”