CAMP DANGWA, La Trinidad Benguet – Concerned uniformed and non-uniformed personnel of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in the Cordillera disclosed members of the command group are now moving heaven and earth to have a greater control of the media to help boost the sagging image of the region’s police force brought about by blunders in decision-making of police officials who are not familiar with the culture in the region.
Sources, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said some members of the command group are now scouting local mediamen whom they believe will succumb to their whims and caprices which they could field in the upcoming election of officers of the Cordillera PNP Press Corps to help improve the image of the region’s police force.
“We still believe in the independence of the media that is why the concerned members of the command group who are desperate in looking for their media allies have become a laughing stock inside the camp because it seems they no longer know what they are doing to erase the bad image of the region’s police force as a result of the highly publicized Tadeo case,” the sources stressed.
The sources also lamented the criteria in selecting the awardees from the media which was seemingly used to appease the media who had been critical to the PRO-COR over the past several months because of their blatantly misplaced decisions and statements in the Tadeo case that resulted to the loss of trust and confidence on the police as it appeared that those who performed their duties were penalized while those who committed offenses were even protected by the members of the command group.
According to them, the plan of the members of the command group will again fail because the media in Baguio and Benguet have their own dispositions and can assert their independence from supposed machinations being done against them just to suit the interest of the some police officals, something that is obviously unethical and unprofessional on the part of those planning to work out how to control the media.
The sources claimed the Cordillera PNP Press Corps is just a social club for media practitioners to interact with the police officials but not to act as mouth piece of the PNP to hide their supposed illegal activities and wrong decisions which defeats the freedom of the press and of expression.
The sources challenged their superiors that if they can easily harass their subordinates to speak out, then they should face the media point blank and answer unanswered queries and not run away from the media, and they even have the nerve to demand for fairness from media as if the latter owe the members of the command group something.
The sources explained that the Tadeo issue will continue to be the matter that will always be hounding the region’s police force because there are many questions that remain unanswered satisfactorily by those who are supposed to make the proper decisions.
By HENT