Mediamen covering Balikatan exercises face stringent rules

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — "Never appear angry nor sarcastic."

Local journalists, who have covered Philippine-US military exercises in this former US Air Force base for a number of years, were jolted by stringent media coverage rules which US marine Capt. Burrell Parmer, the US military’s Balikatan 2004 spokesman, announced yesterday.

Briefing mostly local reporters, Parmer said, "We depend on you to tell our story," but cautioned them "never (to) appear angry nor sarcastic."

Parmer described the coverage rules as measures "for better relations" between the Balikatan public affairs team and the media, not a "do’s and don’ts type of thing."

The journalists, however, said this was the first time that detailed policies on media coverage have been imposed on them since the Americans left this military base in 1991.

"Be courteous and polite, regardless; don’t ask interviewees to guess or speculate; interviewers will stay on their lane" were among the rules Parmer enumerated during a briefing at the Balikatan media office at the Mimosa Leisure Estate.

Parmer denied that the rules on media coverage were something new. "Basically, I say the same things. I just wanted to be more professional about it," he said, adding the rules would prevent "complications" in the field.

He said the media rules have nothing to do with terrorist threats. "It’s a personal and professional thing that I want to do. No one directed me to give this briefing," he said.

"The bottomline is security, accuracy, propriety and privacy," he added.

No Ambush Interviews

Parmer said "ambush interviews" will be prohibited, with interviews allowed when mediamen are escorted by Balikatan military personnel.

Mediamen were also advised not to ask questions pertaining to "rules of engagement, future or current (Balikatan) plans, intelligence information, downed aircraft, specific strength (of participating US forces) and casualty information (in case of accidents during exercises)."

In cases when an aircraft is "downed," Parmer said, "It will be enough for us to say there are bodies lying around."

"We don’t want the wrong people to get there (accident site) before us and use any information against us or the Armed Forces of the Philippines," he said.

Still, Parmer said, "We are always on the record, we tell the truth... We don’t answer ‘what if’ questions."

Parmer said Balikatan authorities will not confiscate the cameras of mediamen who take pictures or footage of prohibited subjects, such as instruments inside US military aircraft, but that the pictures or footage will be asked to be deleted.

"We may also contact your employers," he said, adding that the Balikatan press passes of erring mediamen would also be "ripped up."

After the briefing, Parmer took journalists to the Haribon aviation complex here to take pictures of Huey and Cobra helicopters brought in by the US military and to interview two of their pilots.

Before leaving, the journalists were asked who among them might have taken pictures of instruments inside any of the aircraft.

Balikatan Sites

Some 700 US military men arrived last Sunday morning at the Subic Bay Freeport to take part in the Balikatan exercises to be held at Clark Field in Pampanga, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Ternate in Cavite, Dingalan Bay in Aurora, and Batanes, from Feb. 23 to March 4.

In an earlier interview, Parmer said other US soldiers arrived even earlier, including those assigned to finish a runway that could accommodate C-130 cargo aircraft at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija. Work on the runway started early last January.

Parmer refused to divulge the exact number of US aircraft to be used in this year’s Balikatan, but reports mentioned about 36 American assault and transport aircraft.

He merely said among the US military aircraft to be used are CH-31, CH-53, AH-1H and CH-46 helicopters as well as smaller C-9 and C-12 choppers.

Altogether, 2,500 personnel from the US air force, navy, army and marine corps are expected to join their 2,300-strong Filipino counterparts in the joint military exercises launched in accordance with the Philippine-US Mutual Defense Agreement of 1951.