MANILA – Legitimate media practitioners covering the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have sought the intervention of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) against ‘fly-by-night’ journalists.
In a resolution submitted to PTFoMS, the DILG Press Corps (DPC) alleged that bogus journalists, known as “hao-shiao” in the media industry, have been harassing legitimate media practitioners covering local governments throughout the country.
“The DILG Press Corps is humbly requesting the PTFoMS to act on this matter to safeguard and protect the officers and members of the aforementioned group,” the group, headed by Jan Sinocruz as chairperson, stated in a resolution.
The DPC also claimed that some of its members have been receiving threats and harassment from the fly-by-night media workers calling themselves “DILG-Napolcom Press Club”.
“The DILG-Napolcom Press Club is a separate group of people who have been claiming that they belong to media companies and therefore have asserted that they were assigned to cover the DILG beat,” the request stated.
According to the resolution, some top officials of the DILG “were extremely disgraced with the activities” being done by the DILG-Napolcom Press Club officers and members.
With this, the group has asked for intervention from the media task force “for the safety and protection of the legitimate media group".
In response, PTFoMS Executive Director Joel Egco promised to leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the controversy since DILG is an active member of the inter-agency task force.
Egco said the task force will let justice take its due course based on well-founded evidence.
To expedite the intervention process, Egco has designated PTFoMS legal consultant and veteran lawyer and journalist Jay C. De Castro to lead a fact-finding team that will investigate the DPC’s “reasonable” concerns for the safety.
The PTFoMS was created through Administration Order No. 01 signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in October 2016 to address media killings and harassment. (PNA)
