PRO 6 seeks to smooth relations with media
The Police Regional Office 6 will hold a Philippine National Police-Media Relations Seminar-Workshop next month in a bid to establish a harmonious working relationship between the police and the local media.
The initiative also aims to promote public information and media relations consciousness among PNP personnel at all levels.
Topics on how to help journalists improve their personal safety will also be discussed during the seminar.
Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao Jr., police regional director, said the seminar-workshop on media relations is a critical step in confidence and capacity-building necessary to improve relations between the police and media.
Orienting and educating police officers and personnel about the media and inversely, the media learning about the police, especially with respect to each other’s ways and idiosyncrasies will make them more understanding of each other, he said.
This will promote a harmonious relationship which revolves around public information, news coverage and reportage, Pagdilao added.
Earlier, Pagdilao also sought an input among media practitioners on how they could be protected amid the series of media killings in the country.
He said he would like to come up with a doable course of action to promote the protection of journalists covering Western Visayas against occupational hazards that usually transform into harassment, threats, and other grave measures to silence them.
The primary objective is to establish a measure of trust for the police and the media for the latter to share information to the police about imminent or clear and present danger to their lives so that the police can carry out measures to pre-empt or prevent these threats.
The PRO 6 will seek the opinion and suggestions of the local press in adopting best practices to protect them without having to go beyond the boundaries of the law and without necessarily curtailing their freedom of movement and sacrificing objectivity and transparency in gathering news, Pagdilao added.
