During Sec. Petilla's presscon Dumaguete media reporters walk out

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines –  Around 20 members of the Dumaguete media Friday afternoon walked out of the press conference of Department of Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla and Energy Development Corporation President and CEO Richard Tantoco in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

The press conference, held shortly after the inauguration of the 49.4-MW Nasulo geothermal power plant at Barangay Puhagan in Valencia town, was intended for both local media and about six of their national counterparts who eventually dominated the event.

The local media, comprising about 90 percent of  the  total number of broadcast, print and online media practitioners in the city, left the venue in the middle of the press conference after it became clear to them that they could not raise questions with Petilla and Tantoco.

Even EDC's John Arnaldo, vice president for corporate affairs and who acted as moderator in the press conference, failed to find ways to accommodate the local media with their questions for the two energy officials.

From the very start, Myrna Velasco, reporter of the Manila Bulletin, appeared to be dominating the proceedings of the press conference, as evidenced in voice and video recordings, with local media saying afterwards they could not find even the slightest opportunity to ask questions.

Among the six national media reporters present was Alvin Elchico of ABS-CBN, but the names of the others were not made available.

Towards the middle of the press briefing, members of the Dumaguete media started retrieving their voice recorders and microphones and left the room one by one, complaining of what they perceived as "preferential treatment" for national media.

The Metro Manila-based journalists were clearly granted the entire time to interview Petilla preventing the local media of a chance to interact with the national public figures.

The Dumaguete media had skipped lunch for the press conference, as suggested by the EDC that invited the national reporters, and were only able to eat around 2 p.m. after they walked out. The locals were frustrated, angry and disappointed, and criticized what they described as a monopolized press conference or one-on-one discussion.

EDC officials later apologized and tried to appease the local media following the walkout by saying that Petilla and Tantoco were available for interview after lunch, but many opted to leave as it was too late for a consuelo de bobo to make up for the oversight for what was EDC's biggest event in recent years in Negros Oriental.

EDC, Petilla and the national media present at the press-con came under fire from local media and the public afterwards, with local radio station programs criticizing the unfair treatment while the walkout also spread like wildfire throughout Facebook and Twitter.

The walkout became viral on social media sites with many sympathizers condemning and criticizing the unfair treatment, with others even calling for a media blackout against EDC and the rest seeking for a unified statement from the local media as the incident happened just as the world is celebrating Press Freedom this September.

They said they had many questions lined up for Petilla and Tantoco, foremost of which were about the controversial cutting of more than 500 trees by EDC at the Southern Negros Geothermal Project site in Valencia.

The SNGP-EDC is currently taking a lot of flak from environmental groups protesting the cutting of the trees for a road expansion project in Valencia. There has been a campaign against the power firm to stop another expansion project, and has been pushing for an advocacy to save Mount Talinis from destruction and degradation of the forest in the area.

EDC's SNGP facilities are located within the Mount Talinis area, described by environmentalists as the "last remaining" frontier and a critical watershed in Negros Oriental.

These environmental groups have been questioning the legitimacy of the expansion project, particularly the cutting of trees, and are demanding that EDC present its environmental impact study and environmental impact assessment for such project.

They also hit the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for granting a tree-cutting permit and other documents to allow EDC for the cutting of 576 trees in the geothermal reserve in Valencia.