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EPD chief apologizes over cops' visits in newsmen's homes

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Jose Carretero, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The acting director of the Eastern Police District in the National Capital Region Police Office apologized Sunday to members of the press who complain of privacy violation as cops visited their homes.&quot;Kung privacy ang pinag-uusapan, our [apologies] na lang. Basta, it&#x27;s not our intention to violate their privacy. Ang kailangan namin, maging proactive lang kami,&quot; Col. Wilson Asueta said of the incident that happened in Marikina City.Asueta confirmed that PNP personnel have indeed visited some members of media in his area of responsibility. It was implemented in Metro Manila but he refused to comment when asked where the order came from.But he said the purpose of the visit is to ensure the safety of media practitioners, following the killing of broadcaster Percival &quot;Percy Lapid&quot; Mabasa weeks ago.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/04/22/beteranong-brodkaster-patay-sa-pamamaril-sa-las-pias">Percy Lapid, beteranong brodkaster, patay sa pamamaril sa Las Piñas</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/04/22/highly-probable-percy-lapids-slay-was-work-related-police">Police: &#x27;Highly probable&#x27; that Percy Lapid&#x27;s slay was work-related</a></li></ul>“Well, ang pinaka-purpose namin diyan, to ensure safe and secured ang ating mga friends from the media, lalong lalo na ang ating mga broadcast practitioner, yung mga sa field, and of course sa lahat na ating mga press group,&quot; he said.&quot;So, we want to ensure and to give them assurance that they have been taken care of by the PNP. So, ayaw namin na maulit yung nangyari kay yung sa Las Pinas, kay broadcaster Lapid,&quot; he added.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/10/22/pnp-chief-to-journalists-under-threat-inform-us">PNP chief tells journalists under threat to coordinate with authorities</a></li></ul>Asueta said the objective of the visit is get information so they can anticipate their possible actions and offer counter-measures in case the media personnel has threats and regularly travels.It is not to conduct surveillance, he said.Knowing the residential address of media personnel in his area of responsibility will be good to ensure their safety, especially if they have work-related threats, the police official said.“Siyempre, malalaman naman ang address. Mas maganda nga alam ang address nila so that alam namin agad if in case may problema, alam namin agad kung saan pupunta at may idea kami,&quot; said Asueta.&quot;Hindi namin sila isu-surveillance or whatever. But we are, nandiyan kami para alamin namin kung ano ang kanilang kalagayan. Mas maganda nga kung malalaman namin kung saan sila nakatira para madali kaming makatulong,” he added.In a separate statement, the EDP said it &quot;wanted to protect the Media Personalities and guarantee Freedom of the Press within Metro East and has no intentions to offend or dig into their privacy but only to show commitment in our sworn duties and responsibilities to SERVE and PROTECT.&quot;The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines expressed concern over reports of police officers visiting journalists in their homes without prior coordination, saying it violates the right to privacy.&quot;Assuming good faith, these meetings and dialogues are best done through newsrooms or through the various press corps, press clubs and journalists&#x27; organizations in the capital,&quot; the NUJP said, adding it actually welcomes and finds encouraging the statement of the NCRPO that it will reach out to journalists following the killing of Mabasa.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/07/22/ncrpo-to-hold-dialogues-to-address-media-security-concerns">NCRPO to conduct dialogues to address security concerns of media practitioners</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/15/22/ncrpo-apologizes-after-cops-home-visit-to-journalist">NCRPO apologizes after cop&#x27;s home visit to journalist</a></li></ul>&quot;Far from making us feel safe, the visits add to our anxiety as these were done without coordination with newsrooms... We urge the NCRPO and other police units to arrange these dialogues through more formal channels,&quot; the media group said.It also asked the police to address online threats to journalists.For now, the visitation has been discontinued as the PNP prepares a more systematic approach to avoid misinterpretation, said Asueta.The NCRPO has also offered apologies after GMA News reporter JP Soriano expressed worry over the surprise visit of a policeman in his house.<div>RELATED NEWS</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2272961" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The acting director of the Eastern Police District apologized Sunday to members of the press who complain of privacy violation as cops visited their homes.

EPD chief apologizes over cops' visits in newsmen's homes

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EPD chief apologizes over cops' visits in newsmen's homes

Jose Carretero,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 16, 2022 03:09 PM PHT

|

Updated Oct 16, 2022 07:38 PM PHT

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PatrolPH

Tagalog news

NCRPO

Eastern Police District

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journalists

media safety

JP Soriano

Percy Lapid

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