Police deny asking favor from media
Police Regional Office-7 director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas has denied soliciting favorable coverage from the media in the guise of a communityrelations initiative.
“I will not force anything sa media just to write anything sa amoa, I will just give you what you want,” Sinas said.
Sinas issued the clarification after the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) lambasted the police for allegedly visiting SunStar Bacolod and asking them to write about cops’ “good deeds” in compliance with a memorandum from the Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters.
“The directive orders them to “coordinate with local media outlets within your AOR and embark on partnership programs/ activities to showcase the PNP’s good deeds” and is ‘for strict compliance’,” the NUJP statement reads.
There were also reports about policemen visiting media outlets in Cebu. A local radio station and SunStar Cebu earlier complained that policemen visited them supposedly to take pictures of their reporters.
SunStar did not allow the police but the radio station was caught off guard when the policemen took photos of them with the announcer onboard.
“More worrisome is that the visiting lawmen actually took photos of the staff at the SunStar Bacolod office without asking permission first and, reportedly, also at the Cebu radio station,” the statement further reads.
Sinas said there was nothing wrong about asking for pictures. He said it should not cause any reason for reporters to be alarmed. He reiterated that they are not in the habit of making up stories to make the police forces look good.
Sinas said he values transparency but admitted there are information that has to be kept from the media because it involves national security.
PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde was earlier quoted in media reports that the visitation is part of the initiative to coordinate with the various news outlets and not to ask for favors.
“We’re not asking for favors dito. We’re asking for close collaboration and coordination to inform the Filipino people kung ano talaga ang dapat malaman ng ating taumbayan,” Albayalde said.