President Arroyo’s political woes seem to be forcing her to shy away from the media. Her last press conference with the Malacañang Press Corps was on July 27 but even that one has become controversial as it appeared staged-managed to most people.
It was the height of the resignation calls against her over the "Hello Garci" recordings which allegedly proved that she cheated in the May 2004 polls.
The President went on a media offensive afterwards but granted interviews only to select radio and television stations in early August. Her last full-length interview was with STAR publisher and chairman Max V. Soliven in September.
A reporter who has covered Mrs. Arroyo for a long time confirmed the change in the President’s way of dealing with the media.
"It was different before. We could even have lunch with her at least once a month," Lilia Tolentino of Pilipino STAR Ngayon said.
But Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, also the Palace spokesman, said there is nothing wrong with the President not facing the media regularly.
"A president, be it Mrs. Arroyo or United States President George W. Bush, need not face the media all the time," Bunye said.
Pronouncements, he explained, are usually made on the President’s behalf by the spokesperson or the Cabinet secretaries.
Observers said Mrs. Arroyo has mellowed a lot and is no longer much of a "taray queen" during press conferences.
It was noted that during provincial sorties in the past, Mrs. Arroyo was accommodating and tolerant of reporters following her and asking questions during media interactions.
Later, however, when the "Hello Garci" scandal began to rock her administration, the formal question-and-answer format of press conferences was replaced with informal chats.
But since her provincial trips have become shorter these days, even these informal interactions were no longer possible and reporters had to make do with the President’s speeches and other public messages. — Aurea Calica