GROUPS DENOUNCE REPORTER’S ARREST

SIX personnel of the Manila Police District (MPD) were relieved of their posts following their involvement in the “harassment” of a People’s Television (PTV-4) reporter with media groups denouncing the incident.

MPD Brig. Gen Leo Francisco confirmed to reporters that Lt. Joel Pinon, PCP commander of Beata Police Station; PSMS Jonathan Hernandez; PSSG Anthony Geronimo; PCpl. Charles Bronzon de la Torre; and patrolmen Martin Anthony Comboya and Jonathan Abad have been relieved of their duties.

Lorenz Tanjoco, a Radyo Pilipinas anchor, was arrested and detained for violating minimum public health standards.

He was apprehended in a police checkpoint on Friday for not wearing a face mask while on board his motorcycle. Tanjoco explained his mask was being blown away while driving so he decided to remove it for a while.

He was asked to show his quarantine pass, but gave his media accreditation ID instead, which the police did not honor. When he tried to film the incident, the police officers confiscated his phone.

Tanjoco said that Geronimo remarked: “Walang media, media, tuluyan na ’yan para magtanda.”

He was handcuffed and detained for more than 12 hours.

The incident was met with a flood of condemnation from different media groups.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) on Monday described Tanjoco’s arrest as “unlawful and unreasonable.”

NUJP noted the Philippine National Police chief, Gen. Debold Sinas, ordered that quarantine violators will not be arrested but should only be issued citation tickets.

“Tanjoco’s arrest is a clear violation of the police’s own orders and a continuation of the excessive enforcement of quarantine rules that marked the 2020 lockdown,” NUJP said in a statement.

The Manila City Hall Press Club (MCHPC), where Tanjoco serves as an auditor, also decried his arrest.

“The officials and members of MCHPC expect a swift action from MPD Chief Leo Francisco to investigate the harassment of one of our officers, as we strive to maintain the goodwill and cooperation between the two parties,” the group said in a statement.

Undersecretary Joel Egco, executive director of the Presidential Taskforce on Media Security, said the police’s remarks were “uncalled for and disrespectful.”

“Let this be a reminder to all law enforcers. There is also a law and set of rules on how to be civil and professional in dealing with people and in performing your duties,” he said.