MANILA – The presence of bloggers and social media influencers at the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial meeting created a stir at the weekend, not so much because of questions about their competence in doing “real journalistic work” but also because some veteran reporters complained about being shut out. The irritation was heightened when at least one of the high-profile bloggers posted a photo of his media ID on Facebook.
Asked about what happened, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar said on Monday that covering the ASEAN meetings was open to everyone, including bloggers and social media influencers, as long as they applied for an accreditation, since the end goal was to boost the awareness level of the event to Filipinos.
A total of 14 bloggers were accredited by the PCOO, according to Andanar.
“Actually maraming bloggers ito, total of 14 bloggers, merong HKPinoyTV. And this is open to all. Open to all kahit sino pwede mag-apply. At ia-approve if you’re really a blogger, if you’re really a social media person,” he said in an interview with radio DZRH.
[Actually, there are many bloggers, a total of 14 bloggers, including HKPinoyTV. And this is open to all. Anyone can apply. And you will be approved if you’re really a blogger, if you’re really a social media person.]
Andanar also said these accredited bloggers applied in the same media registration for members of the press and underwent vetting by the organizers.
“It just so happened na itong 14, ito talaga ang nag-apply [that these 14, they actually applied] and they are free to cover the event as a blogger,” he said
“Everyone is really helping to promote ASEAN apart from mainstream media. At meron po tayong mga bloggers na mga volunteers na nagpupunta lang dito para lamang matulungan na ma-promote ang ASEAN [And we have bloggers who volunteered to come here so they could help promote ASEAN],” he added.
Andanar’s remarks came after lawyer Bruce Rivera, a known President Rodrigo Duterte supporter, showed his media identification card indicating he was covering the ASEAN Ministerial meeting for “DDS” in a Facebook post, which raised questions among members of the press as to how the lawyer complied with the strict accreditation process.
‘DDS the biggest network in PH’
In his post, Rivera related his encounter with a Singaporean press member, who mentioned that it was his “first time of hearing of DDS.” The acronym stands for “Duterte Die-hard Supporters” and is nopt to be confused with “Davao Death Squad,” which human rights groups say had been fathered by President Duterte when he was Davao mayor.
Lawyer Rivera responded to the Singaporean journalist’s query about DDS, “it is now the biggest network in the Philippines.”
Members of the press assigned to cover the ASEAN meetings were required to accomplish and submit an online accreditation form, along with a letter of assignment from their media companies, a scanned image of their media ID, and a scanned copy of a 2×2 photo with a white background.
Some of those who were shut out surmised the slots must have run out because they were beaten to these by bloggers.
Meanwhile, Andanar said Rivera had placed “DDS” in his accreditation application when asked to supply the name of his blog.
“Si Atty. Bruce kasi is really a follower of the president and a supporter. Ang blog po ni Atty. Bruce ay pangalan niya, Atty. Bruce Rivera blog. So he decided to put DDS. Eh syempre doon naman sa NOC [National Organizing Committee] ay wala namang malice na ito ang nilagay mo, ito rin ang ilalagay namin,” he said.
[Atty. Bruce is really a follower of the president and a supporter. His blog is also his name, Atty. Bruce Rivera blog. So he decided to put DDS. As for the NOC, they found no malice. If this is what he placed, this is also what we will put.]
Andanar also stressed that not all accredited bloggers were “DDS” as some were independent and objective.
“Hindi naman lahat ng bloggers na nandito ngayon ay DDS. Merong mga supporters. Pero ‘yong mga bloggers talaga na independent, walang sinusuportahan, objective [Not all bloggers here are DDS. There are supporters. But there are bloggers who are really independent, are not supporting anyone, and are objective],” he said.
“Ang mahalaga dito [What’s important here is that] all of these bloggers are actually volunteers to promote the ASEAN event in our country,” he said.
Some bloggers were also previously accredited, said Andanar, in the 30th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit last April.
Asked about the lack of accountability among bloggers and social media influencers, Andanar said it was time for both the media and serious bloggers to act responsibly with their content since no one is excused from criminal prosecution for libel.
He also proposed to bring together both the members of the press and bloggers in order to draft a policy about social media.
“Palagay ko [I think] we should all come together and draft a policy about social media and about how it can help the entire society,” Andanar said.
