COVID-19 task force extends media accreditation period

MANILA, Philippines — The government has extended the accreditation period for media workers who are seeking exemption from the home quarantine requirement.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the provisional 72-hour period granted to media personnel to continue operation in Luzon is extended until March 21.

"Thereafter, only those who bear the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) accreditation ID as issued by the PCOO (Presidential Communications Operations Office) may be exempted from the strict home quarantine requirement," Nograles said at a press briefing Tuesday night in Malacañang.

The special media pass for journalists covering different beats in Metro Manila will be issued by PCOO through the International Press Center. Interested media practitioners must send a request letter from their respective employers and a passport size photo to [email protected] or [email protected].

The requirement, however, did not sit well with some media groups and journalism teachers. In a joint statement, journalism practitioners and educators called on the PCOO to rescind the media accreditation, saying the requirement could be perceived by the public as a means to gag the press. They said a PCOO ID could be "misused and abused to deprive media of access to information."

"A valid press ID should be enough to establish the identity of a journalist and media worker even during the enhanced community quarantine," the journalism practitioners and educators said.

"The PCOO should not give the impression that it wants to control the media and compromise independent coverage," they added.

The statement was signed by journalism faculty members of the University of the Philippines; University of Santo Tomas, and Malayan Colleges Mindanao; Manny Mogato, editor at large of News5 Digital; Philippine Press Institute; Photojournalists’ Center of the Philippines; and Center for Community Journalism and Development,

"If it wants to make itself useful, perhaps the PCOO could help ensure that the police and military refrain from harassing and intimidating the press. As the PCOO may be aware, certain journalists and news media organizations are being subjected to red-baiting and there are cases of work-related arrests and killings under the Duterte administration," the statement read.

In a separate statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the requirement may prove to be counterproductive at a time when the public needs vetted information from the media. It noted that media outfits have issued safety guidelines to their journalists.

"We are aware that we need to contribute to the resolution of this emergency and we can do it best by doing our jobs as journalists. Making it difficult for us to contribute does not help at all," NUJP said.

"We urge Malacañang to reconsider its decision. The media are better as partners during emergencies," it added.

But Nograles said the government won't scrap the media accreditation requirement.

"We are not doing away with it, but the 72-hour period was extended until March 21, 2020," he said.