Palace exec refutes Reuters report, says Malacanang has nothing to hide

A Palace official has refuted the claim of international wire agency Reuters that it never responded to its query seeking Malacanang’s comment on its story about the so-called “Davao Boys.”

“I strongly denounce Reuters’ claim that the “President’s office never responded to our questions” as untrue in so many levels,” Communications Assistant Secretary Rachel Queenie Rodulfo of the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson said in a statement.

READ: Reuters says it sent questions to Palace a week before story was published

A detailed report on the killings carried out by the so-called “Davao Boys” in the narcotics unit of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said Malacanang did not respond to its request for comment on the said story.

“Reuters sent questions to the president’s office a week before the story was published and the president’s office confirmed it had received them. Reuters followed that up with phone calls and emails, but the president’s office never responded to our questions,” the wire agency said in a statement.

Rodulfo clarified this statement.

“While it is correct that Reuters sent the Office an email mid-last week questions regarding the Davao police, we have to bear in mind that there are more pressing matters that the Office has to attend to, such as explaining/discussing to our people the preparation our frontline agencies are doing for the coming typhoon (Urduja), among others,” he said.

“In the thick of things, the Office was able to find time in responding to Reuters’ questionnaire. However, the main concern of that particular Reuters’ story, which is, the re-assignment of Davao policemen in other parts of the country, such as Metro Manila, needs time to be vetted. The story is “parochial” in scope – not the usual “national” issues that our Office can easily respond to. The Office therefore has to coordinate with other offices, such as the Philippine National Police and its National Capital Regional Office,” she added.

Rodulfo narrated what happened to Reuters request for comment.

“The writer of the article, Clare Baldwin, called me on December 18, Monday night, and I wasn’t able to answer/saw a missed call since I was in Biliran – the province hardest hit by Typhoon Urduja — in the middle of the sea, carried by a small boat on the way back to Tacloban. Is Ms. Baldwin’s story more important while I was in Ground Zero of Typhoon Urduja?” she said.

Baldwin, she said, again called her next day, December 19, “pressuring me to give a reply literally minutes before the briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was about to start.”

“I told her to just give me a day, just a day, to send her the vetted answers,” she said.

“As a former media practitioner, I find this very disturbing. I know that a journalist has deadlines but in the interest of fair play, the other side must likewise be considerate in getting their interviewee’s side, given the abovementioned situation and considering the status of my principal,” she added.

On Thursday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque slammed the Reuters report on the Davao Boys, calling it “bad journalism.”

READ: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/954172/duterte-palace-davao-boys-reuters-report-journalism-quezon-city-roque

Roque said Reuters gave him a limited time to respond to their questions.

“[Roque] is the alter-ego of the President. His statements carry the same weight as the statements of the President of the Republic. His official views, as they say, are views of the Palace,” Rodulfo said.

The Palace official questioned why Reuters was in a hurry to publish its story without Malacanang’s side.

“Having said these, we do not see the reason why Ms. Baldwin has to hurry at the expense of getting a verified story. There is now a quandary on her motive: Is it to arrive at the truth? Or is it simply to embarrass the Administration? You don’t threaten the government and put pressure to a government office if a request is not readily answered,” said.

Rodulfo said Malacanang has nothing to hide and said that she even challenged Baldwin “to record our conversation to see how our conversation with her transpired.”

“I find Ms. Baldwin’s one-sided conduct unbecoming of a journalist,” she said. “I hope this put things in their proper context.”