Carlos orders men: Be ‘transparent’ to media
“BE transparent. Don’t hide anything from the press.”
This was ordered yesterday by Philippine National Police chief General Dionardo B. Carlos to his police commanders.
In his second command conference, the top cop said he wants his field commanders to really engage the media by dishing out timely and accurate information as they embark on another mission to ensure an honest, orderly and fair conduct of the May 2022 national and local elections.
Himself a former PNP spokesperson and chief of its Public Information Office, the 27th PNP chief directed his regional, provincial and city directors and their chiefs of police and designated spokesmen to “talk to the press” and be ready to field questions so that there won’t be any more room for speculations particularly during the coming election period.
Several police regional directors told the Journal Group that they were instructed by the PNP chief to see to it that the media will get accurate and timely information from them without any hesitation as part of their transparency program.
Gen. Carlos said he is highly confident that his field commanders are mature enough to handle information that the media.
Gen. Carlos wants his field commanders and their respective public information offices and spokesperson to be ready to talk to the press especially when there is major breaking news in their areas of responsibility.
Critical issues, he said, should always be addressed by respective field commanders and their official spokesperson as speculative reports can always be addressed by accurate information from the field.
The PNP chief’s order came in the wake of the killing of journalist Jesus ‘Jess’ Malabanan, a founding member of the PNP Press Corps. There were complaints regarding the delay in the release of information and timely actions from concerned officials of the Police Regional Office 8 and the Calbayog City Police Station in the wake of the killing of Malabanan.
