GMA apologizes to Pampanga journalists

MALOLOS CITY , Philippines  – President Arroyo on Sunday apologized to Pampanga-based journalists for shutting them out of her numerous visits to Pampanga.  

In a video footage aired Monday night by San Fernando-based television station CLTV 36, Mrs. Arroyo, wearing a black dress, said in the Capampangan dialect, “Manyad keng dispensa (I’m sorry).”

Mrs. Arroyo made the statement in a meeting attended by some 20 local journalists at the Plate and Platter Restaurant in Guagua, Pampanga. Also present were Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, local politicians, and an official of the state-run Philippine Information Agency.

Former Pampanga board member and Arroyo ally Lilia Pineda reportedly organized the meeting to soothe the feelings of Pampanga-based journalists who have criticized the President for not granting them interviews during her numerous visits to her home province, especially in the second district where she is running for congresswoman. 

Local journalists were also bitter about Mrs. Arroyo’s apparent attempt to shut them out when she attended the blessing of a new chapel at the Holy Angel University (HAU) in Angeles City recently.

Last Dec. 9, Mrs. Arroyo, in her first visit to Pampanga after she filed her certificate of candidacy, was met by protesting local journalists demanding an end to the killings of media practitioners in the country.

Some 30 local journalists offered a Mass for their colleagues slain in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre at the Sto. Rosario Parish near the HAU. Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Virgilio Pablo David, an outspoken critic of Mrs. Arroyo’s candidacy, officiated the Mass.

The journalists said they were blocked by policemen on board patrol cars and a firetruck when they marched to the HAU after the Mass.

They said the local police displayed “needless overreaction” to their march. They did not get to see the President because her convoy took another route.

Mrs. Arroyo said the rally could have been “uneventful had not the police overreacted to cause tension.”

Sources said Malacañang distributed grocery packs to the journalists after the meeting.