NUJP demands truth

Photo grabbed from NUJP's Facebook page

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) urged fellow journalists to condemn Philippine National Police’s (PNP) refusal to give the truth the public deserves.

NUJP released a statement on Facebook against the PNP directive on barring media access to police spot reports, calling for a collaborative effort of the media and police officers.

“We urge colleagues to raise our collective voice in condemnation of these blatant efforts to withhold the truth and, if needed, to be ready to seek all legal redress,” the statement read.

The organization likewise appealed to the police commanders not to obey a patently illegal order.

“A police spot report is a public document that should be available to everyone, not just media, in the principle of transparency and accountability. Suggestions that press releases will be issued in lieu of allowing access to spot reports are NOT acceptable,” NUJP stated.

NUJP also demanded that PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa immediately revoke his illegal order to withhold spot reports from media.

“Press releases, by their very nature, are sanitized and angled to favor the issuing body and are, thus, not an objective source of information. There is absolutely no reason why the agency sworn to ‘serve and protect’ the people should cloak its operations in secrecy,” NUJP said.

NUJP secretary general Dabet Panelo released the statement on their official Facebook account on September 13.