MANILA, Philippines—As though the controversy over the Philippine National Police’s “euro generals” were not enough, here’s another provocative issue to involve the PNP: The police blotter has been declared off limits to the public, particularly the media.

In a memorandum dated Oct. 20, PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa said the blotter in any police station nationwide “shall not be made accessible to the public or media” without authorization by the station commander “or unless the disclosure is in compliance with a lawful order of the court or any pertinent authority.”

The PNP spokesperson, Chief Supt. Nicanor Bartolome, Thursday said the memo was intended to protect both victims and suspects in crimes, particularly those involving women and children.

“It is not that we don’t trust the media. Some victims request that their complaints be made for record purposes only and not be made public,” Bartolome said.

He also denied that the memo was meant to be a “diversion” from the still simmering issue of ranking police officials caught carrying at least 105,000 euros at the Moscow international airport early last month.

No access to PIO head

Reporters covering the Manila Police District (MPD) were Thursday barred from reading the blotter by police officers who justified the move with Verzosa’s memo titled “Decentralization of the Functions of the Public Information Office (PIO).”

According to the memo, information on any case may be provided “exclusively” by the designated PIO or its spokesperson, “unless for justifiable reasons, the head of office decides to do the dissemination himself or appoints a suitable representative personnel.”

The memo also states that any request for information “shall be coursed through and be provided by the PIO/spokesperson upon clearance from the head of office.”

In compliance with the memo, the Philippine Daily Inquirer attempted to coordinate with Senior Insp. Romana Geronimo, the head of the MPD’s PIO, but found that she was not in her office.

Calls made by the Inquirer to Geronimo’s mobile phone were not answered, and a text message indicating compliance with the PNP memo merited no reply.

Reporters covering the MPD pointed out that the police blotter was a public document and, thus, the information in it must be made accessible.

“If all information must be coursed through the PIO, then the PIO must always be available every minute of every day,” a tabloid reporter said.

In a statement issued later Thursday to address the MPD incident, Bartolome said the police leadership was not prohibiting media access to police blotters and other official reports.

“It is unfortunate that the latest move to decentralize the public information function was misinterpreted in some lower units and further misconstrued by some members of the media,” he said.

No absolute ban

Earlier Thursday, Bartolome said there was no “absolute prohibition” on access to the police blotter because permission could still be secured from unit commanders.

But he also said not all information in the blotter was “absolute,” adding: “What is in the blotter is essentially one side of the story. It is only a tool in investigation.”

Bartolome acknowledged that the police blotter was a public document, but said not all public documents could be made public.

He also said that as its title indicated, the memo was generally meant to “decentralize the functions” of the PNP’s Public Information Office.

“Actually,” Bartolome said, “the general intent is to accommodate the media.”

No consultation

He pointed out that police commanders were under instruction to conduct media briefings, issue press releases, answer requests for information and interviews, liaise with reporters covering their areas, and implement public information programs and other functions to “help in the dissemination of information.”

But Alvin Baltazar, the president of the PNP Press Corps, said: “Reporters depend on the blotter for information. A move like this will affect our work.”

Baltazar, a reporter of radio dzRB, also said Verzosa’s memo was without benefit of consultation with members of the media.

Asked to comment, professor Danilo Arao of the University of the Philippines’ Department of Journalism said the police must recognize press freedom and access to information.

“Journalists are not asking for special treatment. But the reality is they have deadlines to meet in the course of their work and need information from the blotter,” Arao said in a phone interview.

“[The memo] should be denounced as lack of transparency on the part of the police and an infringement on press freedom,” he said.

In a statement, the National Press Club said it viewed the memo “with great concern.”

“While we support the PNP’s stand that an accused is presumed innocent unless proven otherwise, we believe that the public’s right to information should not be sacrificed in upholding the right of the accused,” it said.

Senate probe

It also said prohibiting reporters from checking the police blotter “smacks of media repression” and “has never been done before, not even during the repressive martial law years.”

As it happens, the matter will now be subject to an inquiry by the Senate.

Claiming that the PNP was “wrong” in issuing such a memo, Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. Thursday announced he would open the inquiry as chair of the Senate committee on public information.

“I don’t see the logic behind the memorandum. We should not curtail press freedom in the country,” Revilla said in a statement.

He called on the PNP to reconsider its move and to recall its order.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. agreed that the PNP could not impose the ban because police blotters were considered public documents.

Pimentel said that with its move, the PNP stood to curtail the rights of the media.

Preventive suspension

To add to Verzosa’s woes, Pimentel reiterated his call for Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno to suspend the PNP chief.

“A preventive suspension should be imposed on Verzosa, more so now because his wife is getting more enmeshed in the controversy,” Pimentel told reporters at a news conference.

He was referring to the fact that Russian authorities had asked Verzosa’s wife Cynthia and now retired Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal to return to Moscow in connection with the undeclared euros.

Caringal was among the “euro generals” led by now retired PNP comptroller Eliseo de la Paz who attended the 77th Interpol General Assembly in St. Petersburg on Oct. 6-11. Cynthia Verzosa also attended the assembly as her husband’s representative.

The Senate foreign relations committee chaired by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago had looked into the incident and recommended the prosecution of the “euro generals,” as well as Verzosa and Puno.

Pimentel had earlier called on the National Police Commission chaired by Puno to put Verzosa on preventive suspension. Thursday was the second time the senator made the call.

‘Curiouser’

“The story is getting curiouser. It gets curious by the day… And [Verzosa] is in the saddle. He can’t avoid getting involved in the investigation,” Pimentel said.

He said a preventive suspension would serve to deter Verzosa from “manipulating the records or witnesses under his control.”

Pimentel called on Puno to “take over immediately and bash the heads of those needing bashing.” He said he did not know what Puno was waiting for.

“That whole joyride to Moscow should really be investigated,” Pimentel said. With reports from Julie M. Aurelio and Christine O. Avendaño