No Press entitlement

I only have the copies of three national newspapers on my desk every day and none of them carried the story of a supposed Malacañang ban on a Rappler reporter on their front pages. I also have the copies of three local newspapers but as they usually deal with local issues, I found nothing about the Rappler rap as well. And this I found rather unusual, considering that newspapers are normally very sensitive about matters involving the press and its freedoms.

The only reason I can think of for the front page “snub” is that self-respecting journalists in the Philippines must have seen on television the incident that involved Rappler’s Pia Ranada and the Presidential Security Group soldier who denied her entry into Malacañang, supposedly on orders of who else but the Palace’s main occupant, President Rodrigo Duterte.

The video clip I saw on TV had Pia Ranada holding up her phone camera right up to the face of the soldier and following him around wherever he went, apparently trying his darned best not to be provoked into some kind of a nasty confrontation with the offended journalist. It was very clear that Pia was not trying to appeal her case but wanted the soldier to make a move he can only regret later.

But thanks to his training, and perhaps to his being a gentleman, the soldier managed to keep his cool despite Pia hounding him forever with her cellphone. Had she done what she did to the soldier to another person with a much lower threshold of patience and discipline, I would not be surprised if she did not get herself slapped silly. A real journalist would have had the sense to realize the soldier had nothing to do with the ban and was merely doing his duty by obeying the order.

The problem with so-called journalists like Pia is they think a press card carries with it entitlements beyond those normally accorded members of the press. As a one-time card-bearing Reuters stringer for 17 years, I remember what the back of my press card said: “This card is issued to assist the bearer in the performance of his/her duties as a member of the Press. Any courtesies accorded the bearer is highly appreciated.” No demand for any entitlements, whether specified or implied.

True Malacañang may be a government complex, but a press card does not deprive occupants of government buildings their own right to regulate access therein. I can just imagine the chaos and anarchy that would ensue if the doors to every government structure in the world are allowed to swing open at the behest of just about any Tom, Dick, and Pia armed with a press card.

I have been a journalist long before Pia ever wrote her first story. Had I been thrust into the same situation as hers, I naturally would feel very angry. But I would still have enough decency and self-respect to avoid making a scene that will not change anything. What I will do is write about the incident and bitch about it in a column or some other medium to express my opinion. I might even go to court to test the limits of such a ban.

The commander of the PSG, asked to comment about the incident, said Pia should be thankful the soldier did not lose his cool and harm her. I saw the video clip of this comment and it was said matter-of-factly. I found the comment honest and fair. But Rappler saw it as a threat and demanded an apology. Thank God the PSG commander refused. The reader should not take my word for it but view the tapes themselves. But the relative quiet in the general press I find very revealing.