MANILA, Philippines – In-house mediamen covering the airport beat walked out of the Bureau of Customs-NAIA’s launching of the Customs ETravel held at Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 due to shabby treatment.
The mediamen belonging to the Airport Press Club (APC) protested that while they were supposedly invited to cover the event, they were denied of a good spot from where they could be able to see and document the entire proceedings.
The APC members also lamented that while they arrived 30 minutes before the slated start of the event—which was 4 p.m. as stated in the invitation—the event actually began nearly an hour late.
The media, both in-house and non-in-house, were relegated to the back where they were cordoned off from the area where the speeches and video presentation were held.
A couple of burly Customs personnel were even posted at the space alloted for the guests’ entry, to prevent any media member from attempting to enter.
Notably, while the program went on, the media members had much difficulty taking pictures or videos since the guests inside the cordoned area were all standing, with some of them taking photos or videos of their own, thus blocking the only available open spot in the middle which had been occupied by TV cameras already.
Those who were posted elsewhere outside the cordon were no longer able to take shots or even watch the video presentation, as the guests’ heads blocked their view.
Since complaints aired to some Customs personnel present went unheeded, the APC members decided to just walk out of the event.
It would be recalled that during the presidential campaign in 2022, President Bongbong Marcos named the BOC as one of the most corrupt government agencies and promised to eradicate corruption in the bureau.
However, some OFWs are skeptical in the present administration about its campaign against corruption.
“How can you eradicate corruption if the person led the agency was once involved in corruption, and to the point that he shun to talk to the media, obviously, transparency is not in his vocabulary,” an OFW said who refused to be named.
