Davao journos decry harassment during Quiboloy arrest coverage

Inquirer files

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — National and local journalists have decried the harassment, threats and disinformation experienced by media practitioners during the 16-day coverage of the police operation to arrest Pastor Apollo Quiboloy.

Stressing that “our only bias is for the truth,” 31 editors and reporters of at least 10 Davao news outlets and three media groups released a statement on Monday, taking to task those who wanted to manipulate the truth during their coverage.

“Do not expect us to accept hook, line, and sinker whatever it is you tell us. As journalists, verification is our discipline. We verify, we countercheck, we seek various sources to try as best as we can to ferret out the Truth,” part of the statement read.

READ: Apollo Quiboloy in gov’t custody after long hunt

According to the statement, the media had witnessed during the 16-day standoff how “disinformation, half-truths, and lies spread like wildfire on social media, even before we can … check where they came from and verify.”

“Those who covered the standoff experienced verbal abuse, threats, harassment, intimidation, and humiliation from members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) who insisted that their version of the incidents is the only version that media should report on,” said the statement. “We experienced being bullied or cajoled and used by one party of the conflict to outsmart another. We documented these incidents of harassment and even went to the police for the blotter.”

The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP), on Monday, also decried how Davao journalists were “subjected to intimidation, harassment, and harm, and were accused of bias while doing their jobs and covering a police operation.”

“In their bid to control the narrative, they harassed and threatened us when we wrote or broadcast stories that did not match or follow their storyline,” NUJP said, quoting the statement from the Davao journalists.

‘Our message’

“We want to send these people a message: It is not our role to carry your propaganda line or push your own agenda, said the Davao journalists.

Among the editors and reporters who signed were from Mindanao Times, Sunstar Davao, Edge Davao, Mindanews, Davao Today, Newsline Philippines, ABS-CBN, Philippine News Agency, Radyo Pilipinas, PTV Davao, among others. Media organizations like the Davao City Media-Citizens Council, the NUJP-Davao chapter and the Mindanao Independent Press Council also supported the statement.

Lawyer Israelito Torreon, Quiboloy’s lead lawyer, earlier apologized to the media about the hostility of KJC members during the coverage but added that he could not control their emotions when they perceived the bias in the media reports. Torreon still has to reply to the Inquirer’s request for comment.

False claims

Despite those extremely difficult circumstances from Aug. 24 to Sept. 8, journalists who reported from the field and the news desks that vetted their stories were “unfazed because of our adherence to the essential principles and practices of journalism, our Code of Ethics and our respective editorial policies,” said the statement.

Among the disinformation that spread very fast during the 16-day coverage were the reports that seven KJC members died when thousands of policemen stormed the compound at dawn on Aug. 24, the lockdown and cancellation of all flights at Davao International Airport when KJC members and Maisug supporters blocked the road on the night of Aug. 25, and the alleged “surrender” of Quiboloy from Kidapawan City on the 16th day.

Quiboloy was just inside the Bible School Building inside the KJC Compound. He was forced to surrender to authorities when police troops were already preparing for an assault on the building where they knew he was hiding.