Media censorship

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – There is urgency in the approval of the Freedom of Information Bill so parameters of the media (or the public) in gaining information on pertinent issues and the government, in releasing these, would be clearly laid out.

This could be illustrated in a recent tiff between Baguio police and the media wherein a news reporter allegedly reported the latter of withholding information from them regarding a rape case.

Insp. Karissma Gacusan Sta. Juana, city police information officer said the case involved the case of a 17-year- old- girl who was allegedly abducted, raped and robbed on Jan. 30 which was published at Sunstar Baguio on Feb. 1 with a follow up report published on Feb. 3 both written by Ma. Elena Catajan of Sunstar.

According to Gacusan, the city police office did not refuse to release information pertaining to the case, as they were adhering to a Philippine national Police policy that prohibits release of premature information that may greatly affect the investigation of a case.

The police information officer said she and city police director Senior Supt. David Lacdan did not give conflicting statements about the issue as alleged in the local paper.

Gacusan said police were still awaiting the statement of the child and the case still had to be verified as the victim did not issue an official statement.

“I allegedly stated in a text message that the police have not contacted the victim as well as her family making it difficult for authorities to piece together the real happenings of the case,” Gacusan said.

“As far as I am concerned, my text message was sent to the said reporter on Feb. 1, 2012, at the time that indeed, the Women and Children Protection Center had difficulty in contacting the victim so she may give her official statement. It is a fact that at the time our city police director gave his statement, the WCPC was still exerting effort to contact and invite the victim again to come to their office to give her official sworn statement to stipulate the facts of the case. My statement and that of our city police director did not conflict but complement each other.”

Gacusan said it is the PNP mandate to protect the dignity and the welfare of victims and provide the public with factual and reliable information. This, she added, at times caused them to hold initial information from the media until the actual, verified and factual information became available.

“We are responsible enough not to rely only on police blotters but more on progress and final investigation reports especially to sensitive cases such as rape. Blotter or spot reports contain only initial information of the case, which means that information contained therein may possibly be not true, inaccurate or incomplete and still has yet to be verified through more investigation.

“This was the reason why we had to temporarily hold release of information pertaining to the rape case. We would not want to give the facts stated in the police blotter and then correct ourselves from the erroneous facts given out once the real facts or story is revealed through the final investigation report. Like what we said, we want the public to know the truth.

“So therefore, in reference to the Special Investigation report released on Feb. 3 by the women and children protection division headed by Senior Insp. DivinaMencio, we would like to correct some facts stipulated in the news article.”

“The incident did not transpire last Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 but instead, the victim confessed that the incident happened on Jan. 28, 2012 at about 7 a.m. wherein she was allegedly fetched at a supermart at Bokawkan Rd.

“The victim however, was unsure of the place she was brought to. Also, one of the teachers from a school in Baguio where the victim was studying, stated the victim attended her class on Jan. 30, 2012 from 7:30 a.m. to 12 noon.

“On the other hand, the alleged stolen cell phone of the victim was found left in a taxi and was turned over to a teacher of the same school. Based on the victim’s statement, she recounted that prior to the incident, she and the suspect have been friends for two weeks. She stated that the suspect texted her and asked if they can be friends which she declined but the suspect persisted in texting her until the suspect saw her in front of a super mart at Bokawkan Rd. on Jan.y 28, 2012 and asked her to come because he will give her something.

“The victim further claimed that the suspect pointed a gun to her and forced her to go with him and the next events she confessed, were the same with the blotter report. On the other hand, it is untrue that the “alleged abductors” put her inside a jeepney and left.

“According to the victim, after the alleged abuse, she was asked of her address but instead she answered that she be dropped in a gas station at La Trinidad, Benguet which the suspect did so.

“However, the victim confessed that she didn’t know the name of the suspect and that she was not sure if the suspect was a taxi driver or not. This corrects the misconception that the suspect was a taxi driver and this disproves the allegation that an FX taxi was on the loose abducting and raping young girls. This is only an isolated incident.

“Furthermore, the victim and her relatives requested that the case be dropped and closed. In view of the matter discussed, we would like to appeal to our media friends to please respect the discretion of the authorities in holding or not releasing for the meantime sensitive information relating to confidential and delicate cases especially if women and children are involved.

“While we acknowledge the urgency of the deadline for news reports as well as the right of the public to be informed, we cannot put the victim and the progress of the case itself at stake. We assure however, that once the information pertaining to these cases has been verified, investigated and proven truthful, we will enthusiastically provide you with the facts. Thank you very much.”

PNP memorandum circular no. 2006-022 known as the PNP Media Relations Policy dated Nov. 21, 2006 aimed to establish specific guidelines on how the Philippine National Police should deal with the media, especially in releasing public information.

This policy also aims to re-orient and further motivate every PNP personnel to be cognizant of the importance of a good-working relationship with the media as a vital component of the organization’s over-all police community relations program, “but with utmost awareness of the limits of disclosure of information.”

Part V paragraph G.3 of the said policy, stipulated about information that may not be released in connection to an investigation of an event or crime unless authorized by the department chief executive or his designee.

One of these is stated in letter G as quoted, “Information which, if prematurely released, may interfere with the investigation or apprehension such as the nature of leads, specifics of a mission order and details of the crime known only to the perpetrator and the police, or information that may cause the suspect to flee or more effectively avoid apprehension.” Also, according to the law, cases involving women and children must be handled cautiously especially in giving out information to the media which may affect the conduct of investigation as well as welfare of the victim.