Andanar frustrated with his own team?

Last week, Presiden­tial Communications Office (PCO) Secre­tary Martin Andanar issued a statement blasting the media for “irresponsible” reporting on President Dute­rte’s martial law remarks.

Andanar decried the al­leged misreporting that the President would declare mar­tial law simply “if he wants to” or that “no one can stop the President from declaring martial law.”

“Such headlines sow panic and confusion to many. We consider this kind of re­portage as the height of jour­nalistic irresponsibility,” he said.

This is surprising, con­sidering that Andanar was an active media practitioner be­fore he was appointed to head the PCO.

The Malacañang Press Corps (MPC) did not take Andanar’s statement lightly. The MPC decried the state­ment of the PCO secretary that the media “misreported” the President’s comments on martial law.

“We take exception to the statement of PCO Secretary Martin Andanar accusing the media of ‘misreporting’ Pres­ident Duterte’s statement about martial law,” MPC said in a statement.

The MPC said that all he has to do is to read the entire news story to understand its context.

“We encourage the good secretary and his officials to read the entire news stories, not just the heads or titles to get a better picture of the media’s coverage of the Presi­dent,” it said.

The Palace reporters have also expressed concern over the propensity of Duter­te officials to blame the media when the President’s state­ments cause controversy.

“We are disturbed by the propensity of the officials of this administration to blame the media whenever the in­flammatory statements of the President stir controversy or draw flak,” the MPC said.

The reporters’ group said the media have “no obliga­tion to please or satisfy sourc­es” because their loyalty is to the citizens, those who will be affected by the actions of peo­ple who are far more power­ful than them.

The MPC said it hopes that “such behavior is not an attempt to discredit or un­dermine the media,” which play a crucial role in “keeping our democracy healthy and checking those in power, and supplant them with informa­tion sources that would push for an agenda that is less than noble than the truth.”

Public officials like An­danar should be reminded not to be so onion-skinned. After all, it is the duty of the media to scrutinize every statement and action of the government because these are likely to affect the lives of over 100 million Filipinos.

Our journalists are trained to serve as the watch­dogs of Philippine society. Newspapers are not meant to cater to the reading pleasure of Palace officials. It is naïve for the drumbeaters of Mala­canang to expect our news­papers to churn out praise re­leases to make the President feel and look good.

It is not for lack of patri­otism that the media call the attention of the government to its defects. It is the role of media, their very raison d’être or reason for existence, to assume a probing and in­quisitive stance. Nevertheless, media have for the most part been respectful toward the government with regard to important issues that affect the country.

The independence of the press is one of the bedrock principles of our democracy.

The challenge to the me­dia is to balance their sharp criticism with constructive advice. There might be media practitioners who show blind partisanship, but these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

For the most part, the media have shown a great deal of responsibility and po­litical civility in dealing with public officials no matter how irascible they may be.

Public officials must be constantly reminded they are fair game for public censure.

In the words of the late great editor Felix B. Bautista, “The function of a newspaper is by no means an easy one. Never must a newspaper lack the courage to fight for its be­liefs and the concepts of free­dom for which the newspaper profession has always stood, even in the face of opposition, abuse and the violation of its rights by men who grow mad with power.

“Despite the technical advances made in this field, the newspaper remains basi­cally the same: a disseminator of truth, a champion of free­dom, a bastion for the relief and safety of the oppressed,” Bautista said.

By declaring his exaspera­tion with how the media have reported President Duterte’s statements and focused in­stead on the negatives, could this be a tacit admission by Andanar of his frustration with the government’s pro­paganda machine which he heads?

Andanar also supervises the operations of the govern­ment’s news and information agencies, television and radio stations including PIA, PNA, PTV-4, IBC-13 and PBS-Radyo ng Bayan.

We know that Andanar is trying his best. However, he should assemble a better team that can translate well the President’s intentions to the media more effectively.

For notwithstanding the present glut of officials in the Presidential Communication Office who are supposed to trumpet the gains of this ad­ministration, there seems to be a shortage of talents who can communicate well.