DAVAO CITY — Media practitioners in Zamboanga City expressed alarm over what they describe as “restrictions” in the coverage of the arrival of anti-COVID 19 vaccines.
In a statement issued March 11, the Zamboanga Press Club (ZPC), Inc. said that members of the media were confined at an out-of-way place inside the arrival area of Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA) during the arrival of the first batch of CoronaVac anti-COVID 19 vaccines last March 5.
The issued stemmed during the arrival of the Chinese developed Sinovac Biotech Ltd. in Zamboanga on March 10 with the same restrictions imposed on members of the media.
Members of ZPC in a statement said they were surprised on the restrictions imposed upon them without prior consultation which they viewed as “a manifestation of suppressing the freedom of information and of the press and denying the public of truthful information.”
The group specifically lambast the Philippine Information Agency regional office for Zamboanga Peninsula, the Department of Health (DOH) 9th regional office and the local office of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to be behind the plight of the media covering the arrival of the vaccines.
But In a joint letter to the press club, the DOH-9, PIA-9 and CAAP has asked members of Zamboanga Press Club for understanding.
“The inter-agency task group has been tasked to ensure the safe and secure delivery of the limited vaccine supplies, and this is why very strict protocols were enforced,” the joint statement said.
In response, ZPC issued its second statement saying they understand the security procedures in important coverage and they have always been obedient to it.
“(But) it has been noted that during the March 5 and March 10 coverages, members of the local media were placed in a position where they can barely take clear video and photographs,” the ZPC second statement said.
There were journalists who complained that while they were restricted to a corner, PIA teams moved freely at the airport, sometime blocking the media’s line of sight.
“Such kind of situation simply indicates that there is no coverage allowed,” the Zamboanga Press Club second statement stressed.
“In all the coverages they have done amid the strict safety and security protocols in place, the members of the local media were positioned in a vantage point where they can clearly take video and photographs contrary to what happened on March 5 and March 10 at the Zamboanga International Airport (ZIA),” the media group emphasized
Some journalists in Zamboanga also protested PIA’s imposition of “media pool” without prior consultation. Newsline.ph
