A group of journalists expressed outrage Thursday at an attempt by National Bureau of Investigation agents to gain access to the residence of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III in Taguig City by posing as members of the media.
According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, members of the NBI Technical Division asked a reporter for TV5 to allow them to pose as members of her crew. Although the reporter refused the request “they ignored the reporter’s wishes and said they were with her.”
“The charade pulled off by the NBI agents was not only unethical; it was downright criminal. They not only willfully endangered the reporter but all other journalists who have been covering the Kiram family amid the unfolding crisis in Sabah,” the group said.
The NUJP has demanded that the NBI apologize for the incident and to promise that it will not happen again. It also wants the agents involved relieved from duty and charged with criminal and administrative raps.
NUJP called on journalists not to “allow themselves to be used by these (law enforcement) agencies, and to immediately expose any attempts by them to use the media in their work.”
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