Director general Jesus Verzosa

The National Press Club (NPC) on Thursday scored Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa's latest directive, ordering all police units to keep key information on police blotters secret from the media.

Benny Antiporda, NPC president, said Verzosa's latest directive "smacks of media repression" and has never been done by a police chief even during the Martial Law days.

"Banning mediamen from checking the blotter smacks of media repression. It has never been done before not even during the repressive martial law," Antiporda said in a statement.

In a directive dated October 20, Verzosa ordered police stations nationwide to keep information on the plotter secret to the media.

“The information contained in the police blotter, in order to protect the integrity of the document and the identity of any victim and suspect, shall not be made accessible to the public or media, without the proper authorization from the Head of Office or unless the disclosure is in compliance with a lawful order of the court or any pertinent authority,” Verzosa said in the directive.

The directive was made known to media after some police beat reporters were refused by police desk officers to view the blotter.

Public document

The police blotter is one of the main sources of news by reporters assigned to the police beats. Reporters said the police blotter is a public document and should not be kept closed by the police.

A radio dzMM report said even policemen assigned in investigation units were also complaining against the new directive.

Days after being installed to the top PNP post, Verzosa made an announcement that he will ban the presentation of suspects before the media.

He said that instead of lining the suspects, the police will allow media people to witness actual police operations and take note of its details in real time.

Antiporda said the NPC supports Verzosa's effort to protect the integrity of suspects, but insisted that "the public's right to information should not be sacrificed in upholding the right of the accused."

Another Senate appearance?

Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla, chairman of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, said Verzosa may have to make another appearance at the upper chamber when his committee hears the Freedom of Access to Information Bill.

Revilla said Verzosa's new directive could be violating a provision of the Constitution about the free access to information.

Verzosa had made his first appearance at the upper chamber during the Senate committee on foreign relations' hearing on the controversy involving his Philippine Military Academy classmate, retired PNP comptroller Eliseo dela Paz, who was held by Russian customs officials at the Moscow International Airport for carrying P7.5 million worth of euros.

Absolute facts

Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome Jr., PNP spokesman, said the media ban on the police blotter is part of the new policy being implemented by Verzosa to decentralize the functions of the police public information office.

Bartolome clarified that the directive does not absolutely ban the media from peering over and taking down notes from the police blotter.

"The directive is not actually banning, but implementing the right process to protect the personalities involved, specially cases involving women and children," the police spokesman said.

He reminded reporters at PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame that the police blotter does not contain absolute facts. He said every information written on the blotter are biased to the complainants.

"Definitely the information that will be written on the blotter are for their (complainants) advantage," Bartolome said.

The spokesman also explained that the media can still lift information from the police blotter, but they would have to seek proper authorization documents from the authorities, including the courts.

"There are no words [in the directive] that says its being banned per se. Maybe we just need to fully explain the directive to our people...," he said.