‘EMPTY PROMISES’ | Marcos can only ‘pay lip service’ to the media, says veteran journalist

April 28, 2022 , 12:12 PM

By Mikee Garcia, News5 Digital

(April 28, 2022) – Presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos Jr. recently insisted that he is not difficult to interview because he is always out in public but a veteran journalist on Wednesday said this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Vergel Santos, a trustee of media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, said Marcos continues to shun the media to avoid the issues surrounding his family.

“I cannot understand how he can deny what is so obvious, which is keeping the media well off him,” said Santos on One News’ The Big Story.

“He simply doesn’t want to take disadvantageous questions, risking answers, that he might find would put him in a bad light.”

According to News 5 correspondent Marianne Enriquez, who’s been following Marcos’ campaign trail on the ground, the security team of the late dictator’s son has always been aggressive in blocking reporters who attempt to do ambush interviews.

Marcos, the standard-bearer of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas in the 2022 elections, has even snubbed international media. In a now-viral video of a reporter from BBC News, the former senator only smirked when asked, “Can you really be a good president if you’re not doing serious interviews?”

But in an interview with CNN Philippines, Marcos claimed he’s not avoiding the media.

“I don’t know kung bakit sinasabing mahirap ako i-ambush interview. I’m always out in public. Pero siyempre, we are doing something else also. I don’t know why they say that because hindi naman ako pwedeng magtago,” said Marcos.

Marcos held a press conference last Tuesday in Cagayan de Oro but only invited several handpicked journalists who submitted their questions a day before the event.

Marcos’ claim and his actual actions toward the media indicate that any promise he makes if he gets elected will be an “empty one.”

“It’s not about the presidency. (He) says when he becomes president, he will be answering all questions, he will be facing all media. Why cannot he do that now? I’ll tell you why, because he cannot do the right thing. He can only pay lip service to it. It’s so easy to promise,” said Santos.

Aside from being selective with his media engagements, Marcos has also refused to attend debates organized by major news outlets and the Commission on Elections.

Santos said “it’s not about the presidency” for Marcos, who continues to stay mum on the issue of his family’s ill-gotten wealth and unpaid estate taxes worth P203 billion.

READ: Claim that Marcos heirs do not have to pay P203 billion estate tax is false

“Remember that he said all he wanted to do was protect his family?” said Santos. “To me, those words simply mean that possibly in exchange for presidential power, he would be very willing to simply be guaranteed that he and his family keep their plundered wealth.”

(PM)

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