PCO house cleaning stirs up dust

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO)’s house cleaning initiatives stirred a hornet’s nest among present members of media called the Malacañang Press Corps (MPC). In a memorandum dated April 25, the PCO came out with “New Guidelines for Media Accreditation in Malacañang” for immediate implementation. But the PCO withdrew its memorandum last Monday following a dialogue with MPC members, who were all surprised when it came out of nowhere.

The PCO new guidelines emerged at this stage of the administration entering the last half of the six-year term in office of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM). Former ABS-CBN reporter Jay Ruiz, who once covered Malacañang and is now PBBM’s newly appointed PCO head, finds himself in a quandary between former media colleagues and his job as press secretary.

Incidentally, Ruiz is the fourth head of the PCO in less than three years of the PBBM administration.

It is a running joke among veteran newsmen that the usual shelf life of an effective press secretary or presidential spokesperson is about two years at the most. Otherwise, he or she becomes like the fictional children’s book character Pinocchio. Created as a wooden boy, Pinocchio gained life but his nose grows longer every time he tells a lie.

The first to serve as PCO head was former Radio dwIZ commentator lawyer Trixie Angeles, who resigned after just serving three months in 2022. From being Land Transportation Office chief, Cheloy Garafil was moved over to head the PCO in October 2022. A former print reporter-turned lawyer, Garafil resigned in September last year. But she got a golden parachute to head the Manila Economic and Cultural Office. Then, former dzRH executive Cesar Chavez took over for a brief while. But Chavez also resigned last Feb. 5 and went back to heading Radio dzRH.

The PCO actually was spun out of the defunct Office of the Press Secretary (OPS). During the administration of the late president Noynoy Aquino, the OPS was subdivided into several “fiefdoms” to obviously accommodate presidential appointees of former media members. The now controversial memorandum came from one of the PCO deputies, assistant secretary for media accreditation and relations office (MARO) Dale de Vera.

The new PCO guidelines were originally supposed to take effect “immediately” as stated in the memorandum of De Vera. It was addressed to the members of the MPC, the Malacañang Cameramen Association (MCA) and the Presidential Photojournalists Association (PPA). These are the organized groups of media members from print, radio and TV covering on a daily basis the activities of the Office of the President inside and outside of Malacañang, including coverage of presidential trips abroad and all over the Philippines.

But apparently, De Vera issued the PCO memorandum without prior consultations with these Malacañang media groups, who naturally balked at these new impositions. Although it has the logo of the PCO, noticeably, however, De Vera’s memorandum did not indicate if the “new guidelines” had the imprimatur of Ruiz as his immediate boss.

Justifying its move, De Vera laid down “key reforms in the accreditation process” in accepting and allowing reporters who can cover official activities at Malacañang. One of these mentioned in the now controversial PCO memorandum read: “To uphold the highest standards of journalistic integrity, professionalism and security, the MARO shall be reorganized to enforce stricter accreditation guidelines and a more rigorous vetting process.”

“Only seasoned journalists from reputable and established media organization will be accredited,” the memorandum further stated.

“Seasoned?” Just how sweet, or sour, or spicy does the PCO want media members to be before they are deemed deserving of accreditation from Malacañang? By its own memorandum, the PCO considers a “reputable and established” media organization must be in existence for at least five years and to submit its business permit or registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In his memorandum, De Vera imposed the requirement “at least five years of professional experience in political or government reporting.” And added it “must be officially certified.” By whom? Here are some more of De Vera’s impositions:

• Journalists must present a track record of ethical and responsible reporting (portfolio of works);

• Stringent background checks with media executives will be conducted for applicants, including verification of employment history and past news reports.

Is this an attempt to usurp the private media organization’s prerogative to choose their own reporter to be assigned to cover the presidency? Not to mention feeble attempts to muzzle press freedom.

Regarded as the premier beat of news coverage, being assigned to cover Malacañang Palace allows accredited media members access and opportunity to walk the halls of power in our country. Yes, we agree that indeed competent reportage is needed from journalists who are not starstruck or who let it get to their heads that they’re rubbing elbows with the powers-that-be they encounter while covering Malacañang.

I have the honor and privilege to be acknowledged as one of the founding members of the MPC. We were then the young breed of journalists led by now STAR editor-in-chief Amy Pamintuan. We organized the MPC a few months after the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. It was our idea to draft the Code of Ethics and Conduct for MPC. This has since then been embedded in the oaths of office for elected officials and members of the MPC.

And to protect our own ranks, we initiated coordination with the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and the OPS – forerunner of the PCO – to help screen and vet MPC members before they are issued security ID cards. The MPC is replete with history of members being “banned” from coverage because they displeased the President with the “negative” reportage of their media entities.

Through the years, however, assumptions of one administration to another resulted in so many changes in the rules of coverage at Malacañang, especially with the advent of the so-called “new media” or online bloggers. It would do well for the PCO to laser-target, not use the shotgun solution to its media accreditation problems.