Senator Rodante Marcoleta again aired his frustration with members of the press during the Senate session on Wednesday, June 17, claiming that journalists do not carry his full statements in their coverage.
“Lahat naman ng sinasabi ko, hindi n’yo naman pina-publish,” Marcoleta said. He added that he has answered and explained his positions to reporters on several occasions, but that these explanations do not appear in published news reports, according to Bombo Radyo and Manila Bulletin’s Balita, which both reported the remark.
The renewed complaint comes after a more contentious episode earlier in the month. At a June 4 hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee — part of the ongoing inquiry into anomalies in flood control projects — Marcoleta described many members of the Senate press as “bayaran,” or paid hacks, while questioning how reporters had covered witnesses who came forward in the probe, as reported by GMA News Online.
Marcoleta apologized later the same day. He said he had not intended to malign the entire press corps and attributed the remark to his frustration, Bombo Radyo and Balita reported.
His original accusation drew sharp condemnation. Senate reporters said in a statement that the senator’s sweeping claim was not only irresponsible but a reckless attack on an institution essential to a functioning democracy, GMA News Online reported. A separate statement from the National Press Club similarly rebuked him. Press groups stressed that while criticism of news coverage is legitimate, public officials who make serious allegations against journalists bear the responsibility of presenting evidence rather than relying on inflammatory rhetoric.
Marcoleta, the former chairperson of the Blue Ribbon Committee, has been a central and combative figure in the flood control corruption hearings and faces separate plunder and bribery complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman, which he has characterized as an attempt to silence dissenting voices in the Senate.
