We were had – mediamen

A three-man media team that accompanied an NBI (Bacolod) team to Pulupandan, Negros Occidental last Thursday collectively stated that they had been had.

This, after Pulupandan Mayor Magda-leno Peña told them over a cell phone, “They can search the nation, but we’re out of the country.” This was the surprise result of the NBI’s dramatic sortie to Pulupandan to ostensibly serve the Supreme Court decision to turn over the custody of the three-year-old son of Peña and Plinky Recto.

What got the goat of the media people was that they were called up until late at night and early Thursday morning about the impending NBI operation.

And while the jump-off was originally set as 6:30 a.m. Thursday, the media people were later told that it was re-scheduled for 6 a.m.

They were never given a briefing which NBI Bacolod chief Mamerto Cortez had assured them they were going to get before leaving for Pulupandan.

The three newshens were my own daughter, Maria Ester, of Manila Times; Carl Gomez of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; and Philippine STAR correspondent Antonieta Lopez.

Both Antonieta (Toks) and Mate told me the details of the fiasco as they called it.

“When we passed by the Peña residence in Barangay Ubay, we immediately noticed that it had not been inhabited for sometime. But the NBI team, equipped with high-caliber weapons, proceeded immediately to the town hall. There they asked for a police team to accompany them to Ubay.

“We had to pass through two checkpoints manned by armed men. But when we reached the Peña residence, it was a caretaker, Dolly Iraga, who met us. She immediately informed us that Peña had gone to Manila in November yet and had not been back. His son purportedly had left ahead of the mayor.”

“Dolly then called up Peña by cell phone. But he told her to give the NBI access to the house. But then we asked permission to talk to Mayor Peña. He only asked us not to take photos or videos of the security men who could become victims of the New People’s Army, if identified,” both recounted.

Incidentally, the NPA earlier had claimed responsibility for the ambush of Peña and his escort before the last elections and insisted that Peña was on their hit list.

Peña then informed the reporters that he had given the NBI permission to enter his house because they were not equipped with a search warrant.

Cortez informed the media team that the NBI did not need a search warrant since they were equipped with the high tribunal’s order to turn over the boy to his mother.

But the media team inquired from Cortez why there was no representative from the DSWD with them. He answered that there was no need for the agency’s representative since the DSWD office is just in front of his office in Bacolod and they would have turned over the boy to them.

“But we knew the protocol for such searches or rescue operation,” both Mate and Toks pointed out.

“We noticed that the NBI team did not even go up to the second floor of the House. Very unusual.

“And we asked Cortez whether he was working under pressure, he assured us that he was not,” both narrated.

“He may have forgotten that two days earlier, he had informed a local daily about his conversation with Mayor Peña. So he must have known that the Pulupandan mayor was not in town. At least, he could have suspected that the mayor may get out fast if he were in Pulupandan by that time,” the two added.

“We all decided that we’ve been had – that we were used to allow the rescue operation to be tossed to the Manila dailies to make the NBI Bacolod office seen as going through the motion of enforcing a Supreme Court ruling,” said both Toks and Mate.

Well, that’s their version of the story. Mediamen normally do not resent being told in advance about an operation. But what they could not stomach was the thought that they were being used for the end of the NBI.

“Still, we had our story. The NBI had their story. And Mayor Peña remained smiling,” was how Mate described it.

That’s one for journalism books.

It so happened that Mate is staying with me at my residence. And yesterday, a representative of a local forwarding company got her goat and mine when their messengers brought to the house only one of two boxes from the United States which were supposed to have arrived yesterday.

But what got my goat and Mate’s was the fact that the messengers asked our two maids to sign the paper that they had delivered two balikbayan boxes but delivered only one. They did not leave a copy of the document with the maids.

Mate immediately called up the forwarding firm. She was informed that the other box would be arriving next week yet – a strange excuse. And there was no official notification that was what happened.

Apparently, I voiced out the opinion that the forwarding firm may have mistaken us for nincompoops without realizing that we were both newsmen.

Well, I hope that the missing box would be delivered soon. But the thing that the DTI should do is investigate the forwarding firm for allowing its couriers to take away all the signed documents on the delivery without leaving a copy for us.

Perhaps, it is because it is Christmas and people may be in a forgiving mood. Or that was a matter that would be overlooked. Unfortunately, it’s us – mediamen – who might have been had.

And that could spell trouble for that firm.