The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has revoked the accreditation privilege of ABS-CBN-affiliated AM radio station dzMM after it violated rules regarding the coverage of politicians filing their certificates of candidacy (COC).
On Tuesday afternoon, vice presidential aspirant Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed his COC. He was then mobbed by the press and supporters at the lobby of the Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros.
After saying a short speech, Marcos and his party were already on their way out of the building when a dzMM reporter whisked them inside the Comelec lounge and interviewed him, an act which was expressly prohibited by Comelec in an earlier meeting with media representatives last week.
Comelec spokesperson Atty. James Jimenez immediately called for a press conference announcing the revocation of the dzMM’s media accreditation.
“Today, the media accreditation of dzMM has been revoked,” Jimenez said.
However, he said that a concession was reached and that the radio station can apply again for accreditation on Wednesday.
Jose Parra, a representative from dzMM, apologized to Comelec chair Andres Bautista and the poll body.
“This is a personal apology to the good chairman, the commissioners, and director Jimenez… we will be leaving the premises today and may this serve as a stern warning to all our brothers in the media to respect the privileges given to us by Comelec. I acted on my own to get a ‘scoop’ and I take responsibility on my action,” Parra said.
According to the “right to revoke” clause on the media guidelines set by Comelec, the poll body “reserves the right to revoke media accreditations of those individuals or organizations whose activities or conduct run counter to the principles and policies of the Commission on Elections, or who abuse the privileges so extended, or put the accreditation to improper use.” JE
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