MANILA — The National Press Club (NPC) of the Philippines expressed alarm over a recent claims made by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano that 10 radio stations are conducting scripted interviews. 

NPC president Leonel Abasola is seeking clarification from the lawmaker, pointing out that the latter’s statement would harshly impact the credibility of the mainstream media. 

“I urge the veteran Senator to identify and prove his allegation. Shotgun statements might destroy reputations of respectable media practitioners who are not even privy of their argument, Abasola, who has long covered the Senate beat said in a statement.

 The issue stemmed from a heated exchange between Cayetano and Senator Nancy Binay on July 3 during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Accounts, chaired by Cayetano, on issues surrounding the new Senate building at Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.

Binay used to be the chairperson of the said committee but resigned after a change of Senate leadership. 

During the hearing, Cayetano asserted that the camp of Binay may have sent advance questions since a number of the radio stations have the same questions. 

This resulted to Binay to walking out of the hearing and later denying Cayetano’s allegations. 

Abasola likewise noted that it was the first time that he heard an honorable lawmaker calling a female colleague as “buang” (crazy) and “Marites” (gossip monger) during a public hearing, which he tagged as ungentlemanly. What transpired in the said committee hearing, he further noted, was a behavior uncalled for a statesman like Cayetano. 

“He could’ve called for a temporary suspension of the hearing to diffuse the tension,” Abasola, who also hosts a weekly radio program on state-ran Radyo Pilipinas, said.

 “Patungkol naman po sa media, dapat po i-identify niya kasi marami rin sa mga Senate media ay may kanya-kanyang programa sa radyo,” he added.

 Abasola further noted that it is only natural that there are instances where reporters would ask the same questions on “hot issues” involving public funds. 

Although Cayetano had already issued an apology to journalists covering the Senate beat, Abasola insists the lawmaker must prove his accusations and drop the names of the “radio anchors” who were supposedly paid off to field scripted questions on air.

 It was not the first time that Cayetano accused journalists of being paid off to report unfavorable news. 

In 2019, then House Speaker Cayetano alleged that members of the media had been bribed to spread disinformation about the Philippines’ hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian Games. He later retracted this claim and said only anonymous websites spread false content to “sabotage” the games. 

(el Amigo/mnm)