PNoy: It was never personal with media

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PNoy: It was never personal with media

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

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MANILA - With two weeks left in office, President Benigno Aquino III on Friday recalled a good working relationship with media, as journalists gird for what initially appears to be an icy relationship with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

For Aquino, the trick was journalists and his team getting to know each other well.

"Of course, we have to get to know each other, and through the six years, we have gotten to know how to address each other's needs that we have reached a happy state of affairs," Aquino said.

"Baka naman sobra yung happy, but I think definitely not a combative state of affairs."

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The Chief Executive also appealed for understanding for all the times he and his spokesmen may have snapped at journalists.

"Can I just say na kung may times masungit si Sonny (Coloma) or si Rey (Marfil) or si Edwin (Lacierda) or si Abi (Valte), si Ricky (Carandang), si Manolo (Quezon), pati ako na rin. It was never personal 'no. Talagang kung minsan, tao tayong lahat, nagpatong-patong nung araw na yun," he said.

Aquino, however, admitted he had a better time with members of the Malacañang Press Corps than with journalists not based with the MPC. The MPC is the officially accredited pool of journalists who cover the Office of the President.

"Hindi naman sipsip sa inyo, pero I think we had a better deal with the Malacañang Press Corps rather than the outside media elements. For the most part, I think you are reasonable. We understand where you are coming from. We understand the pressures from your various desks to produce the story that they want. I think you have treated us reasonably well. You have your pressures, you understand our concerns and we have reached a very good level of working relationship."

Still, Aquino recalled his misgiving with one reporter he did not name during his last trip to Jolo, Sulu after the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a Canadian hostage.

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"Jorge Cariño asked about the enhancements or refinements in our operations against the Abu Sayyaf. And I responded in very general terms so as not to share the corrections that we are doing in our operations there would potentially the enemy forces. So most of them who are covering understood that, then there was somebody, I don't remember his name, a male reporter, again, rephrased the question but tried to elicit from me the details."

"So sa loob-loob ko lang parang pare-pareho yung venue kung nasaan kami, narinig naman ninyo yung sagot doon sa una, uulitin pa niya," he said.

"I don't know the interest there was yung to get some sort of a scoop as opposed to one would hope that we are all Filipinos there, this is a situation that affects the whole country. Perhaps we can attend to the problem in a unified manner. Sana we had one viewpoint of the Abu Sayyaf do present an issue or a problem that impacts the country negatively and as 'di ba fellow patriots, let us assist each other in resolving successfully the current situation," Aquino added.

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