No talk, no mistake: Rody bans interviews
After drawing flak for his statement on journalist killings, president-elect Rodrigo Duterte said he would no longer grant interviews to reporters until the end of his term to avoid criticisms and “wrong statements.”
While Philippine journalists are being asked to boycott Duterte’s press conferences until he apologizes, it seems the opposite is happening.
It appears that the next Philippine leader is the one boycotting the media.
“Di na ako talaga… sorry ha, talagang ano ako… boycott talaga...( I won’t grant interviews. Sorry. It’s really a boycott),” Duterte said in a video posted yesterday by TV5 reporter France Noguera.
The interview was conducted on Sunday night at Hotel Elena in Davao City.
Pressed on why he is adopting such a stance, Duterte answered: “Ah, basta wala, ayoko
na (Nothing, I just don’t want to be interviewed anymore).”
“If there are interviews, there will be many mistakes, there will be many criticisms. So no interview, no criticism, no wrong statement, no nothing,” he added.
Media corruption
Duterte was severely criticized when he said that some of the slain media workers had received payoffs or were involved in shady deals and deserved to die.
At a press conference in Davao City last Tuesday, Duterte also scored corruption in media, saying that being a journalist does not exempt one from assassination.
“You want the truth? That’s the truth. There is still corruption in your side,” he said.
Some media entities reported that Duterte had regarded corrupt journalists as “legitimate targets.”
Duterte’s aides claimed that his statement was misinterpreted and taken out of context.
Incoming presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte was just reminding the media that there are journalists who are using their profession to extort money.
“His administration is protective of the interests and rights of journalists, especially their freedom of expression,” Panelo said.
“The things he said were misunderstood. They thought his statements not only justified media killings but even encouraged these incidents,” he said, referring to journalists at the press conference.
“What he was saying was you do not need to be a journalist for that matter, a lawyer, public official or doctor, to be killed or injured. This can happen to you if you did something wrong to anyone who can get back at you.”
Andanar: I’ll talk to you
Meanwhile, to make governance more efficient and effective, incoming press secretary Martin Andanar is planning to bring Duterte’s local program “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa” on national television.
“I would propose to bring that here in Manila and make it a national program,” Andanar told journalists yesterday.
“It’s essentially a program that talks to the masa and addresses problems of the masa. It’s as transparent as you can get.”
The program has been proven effective in the way Duterte has been governing Davao. It served as a venue for the people to give their complaints directly to Duterte.
“I have raised this with the people I mentioned earlier, sina incoming Cabinet Secretary Jun Evasco and incoming Presidential Management Staff chief Secretary Bong Go. I have raised it and okay naman sa
kanila,” Andanar said. “We still have to talk about this,” he added, noting that nothing is final yet.
He revealed his plan to print a government-owned tabloid, which will be published weekly, so Filipinos would know the efforts of government in stamping out corruption and reducing poverty.
The biggest challenge for him is to surpass the achievement of his predecessor and make the officials and members of the Malacañang Press Corps understand his boss’ message.
“I will have to sit down with two other Cabinet members of the communications group and one is attorney Salvador Panelo,” he said, adding they would soon name the other official.
“We will have to craft a media relations strategy, but if you ask me personally, I’ll talk to you. The office will be open for you guys and we can just talk,” Andanar said.