CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 01 May)– Presidential aspirant Emmanuel Pacquiao offered flowers at the Press Freedom Monument here Saturday afternoon, April 30, to honor the 201 journalists murdered since 1986.
Pacquiao is the 1st presidential aspirant to visit the Press Freedom Monument in Cagayan de Oro which was constructed to honor the fallen journalists in the Philippines, a country ranked 7th most dangerous place for journalists in the world according to the Global Impunity Index 2021 released by the Committee to Protect Journalists in October last year.
“Press freedom is the face of democracy. We will not allow a return to the time of Marcos (the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos) where the press was controlled by the government,” Pacquiao later told the community press.
After the floral offering, Pacquiao attended a freewheeling press conference with journalists where he answered topics ranging from graft and corruption, boxing to his housing program.
He said he finds the red-tagging of journalists and activists as “unconstitutional” and promised it would be reviewed if he wins the presidency.
Pacquiao even extended what would have been an hour-long press conference and answered more questions from the local press, in contrast to the press conference of presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last Tuesday.
“Let’s extend this. You rarely have a press conference with me. We make use of the time we are here together,” Pacquiao said.
In his visit last Tuesday, Marcos and his media coordinators invited only selected reporters, mostly neophytes, drawing flak from Cagayan de Oro’s veteran journalists who were not invited.
The Marcos camp also required the reporters to submit the questions they would ask two days before their press conference.
“This is what a press conference of a presidential candidate should be. No discrimination and no advance questions,” Jigger Jerusalem, correspondent of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said of Pacquiao’s press conference.
Pacquiao later went to his rally which was held at the newly inaugurated Amphitheater in Divisoria, Cagayan de Oro, becoming the first politician to use the venue after it was closed for several years.
The old Amphitheater was CDO’s cultural center and where the late Senator Aquilino Pimentel launched his anti-Marcos campaign during Martial law.
Pacquiao appealed to the public to vote for him on May 9. His crowd of supporters replied, “Daug Ka na! (You will win)”
Pacquiao’s staff estimated the crowd to be from 10,000 to 12,000 with people spilling to the side streets and watching from the nearby buildings.
Cagayan de Oro City Police Director Colonel Aaron Mandia also confirmed the 10,000 to 12,000 crowd estimate given the size of the venue like the Amphitheater. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
