Presidential Communication Secretary Martin Andanar slammed Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Assistant General Manager Jojo Garcia for making a joke about how ‘negative’ journalists should be shot or subjected to Oplan Tokhang.
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“The PCOO (Presidential Communications Operations Office), as co-chairman of the PTFoMS (Presidential Task Force on Media Security), will not tolerate such irresponsible and threatening remarks,” said Andanar on December 8.
Andanar cited Administrative Order No. 1.
“Government officials should be aware that there is an AO1 (Administrative Order No 1)…that protects media men and women,” he said.
The task force on media safety was created under President Rodrigo Duterte after he signed the administrative order in October 2016. Its mandate is to provide the journalists a safer working environment and investigate complaints of media violence and harassment.
PTFoMS head, Undersecretary Joel Egco hit Garcia in a Facebook post for making a “bad joke.”
“A reporter I have known for years brought this to my attention. Before I publicly call on the official and lecture him on Admin Order no. 1, or ‘red flag’ him for such a horrible joke, i’d like to ask other reporters who were there to verify via PM to me. Thank you. Surely, my informant claimed they felt the chill,” Egco wrote.
“He started a joke… let’s see who starts crying,” he added. “Even President Duterte does not do that, sir. Just do your job.”
Egco’s comment came after reports surfaced about Garcia made a joke about how reporters who keep writing “nega” (negative) stories about the MMDA should be shot or be subjected to Tokhang operations.
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“Nasaan na ‘yung 45 ko? Ipa-Tokhang na natin yan,” Garcia was said to have been heard saying.
The MMDA official made the remarks before the briefing started so the reporters were unable to record his remarks. However, reporters from the Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler, Philippine Star, TV5, Philippine News Agency, and Rappler.
In their report, the Inquirer noted how this was not the first time Garcia crossed the line. They cited how Garcia got distracted in the middle of making a statement when an attractive member of the media came in or how we could cat-call at pretty female reporters and interns, or ask them if they were involved with each other. Some reporters would point out the things that were wrong with these actions, but Garcia would say that he did those as a joke.
Egco called Garcia’s Tokhang jibe against journalists “worse than a bomb joke.”
In a separate Facebook post, Egco showed a screenshot of a Facebook message thanking him for calling out the MMDA official.
On December 9, the MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago said the agency has not yet discussed if Garcia would get sanctioned for his remarks, but added that MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim “will look into this matter.”
Sources: ( inquirer.net , rappler.com , news.mb.com.ph , philstar.com , balita.net.ph )
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