Filipino Journalist’s Code of Ethics

My take on the backlash on the recent public, live, on-air rant and threats of broadcaster Erwin Tulfo against former Army chief and now Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista who could not accommodate the former’s request for a live interview:

Journalist or not, you do not serve the cause of the powerless and voiceless that you claim to be serving if you behave in a despicable manner on their behalf, and in public at that. You are serving your ego.

One of the four Tulfo brothers who figure controversially for their baseball-bat-carrying style of addressing issues brought to their programs by those in need of help, Erwin crossed the line when he spewed unprintables against Bautista, a 50-ish veteran of deadly battles (e.g. the 2017 Marawi siege) and respected by his military peers and subordinates.

Why did Erwin have to use foul language, and on air at that, against someone who could not readily accede to his request? Who was he trying to impress? The people who came to his program for help? His listeners?

That was a classic example of rage (feigned or not) that we warn people to avoid unleashing in public in order to avoid bloody results. In Filipino, pangsindak (meant to stun).

The fallout in social media has been intense, with the strongest coming from the military. One blithely warned Erwin about the Musangs of the Scout Rangers: “Be scared, be very scared.”

Erwin has since apologized, the first one so lame and  the second one more conciliatory. Bautista has not said a word.

Unmistakably loud was the withdrawal of police security detail from the Tulfo brothers and the wife of Erwin. Incredulous, people asked, “Ha? Why did these civilians have government security assigned to them for years and why were we taxpayers paying for it?” Good question.

As journalists in the field and inhospitable places, we are used to being made to wait. We shouldn’t be strutting about (though some might) with our press IDs as if the world owes us anything. We are in pursuit of stories, news, the truth, we are in the making of history. And we are only as good as our last byline.

Let me share the Filipino Journalist’s Code of Ethics included in the Inquirer’s “The Stylebook: A Manual of Style and Usage for Editors, Writers, Reporters and Students,” put together by the late Isagani Yambot and professor Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo. I omitted the explanation after each one.

1. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care to not suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by improper omission or emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.

2. I shall not violate confidential information on material given me in the exercise of my calling.

3. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs and/or documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press when obtaining any personal interview intended for publication.

4. I shall refrain from writing reports which will adversely affect a private reputation unless the public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for access to information.

5. I shall not let personal motives or interest influence me in the performance of my duties, nor shall I accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature which may cast doubt on my professional integrity.

6. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.

7. I shall not in any manner ridicule, cast aspersions on or degrade any person by reason of sex, creed, religious belief, political conviction, cultural or ethnic origin.

8. I shall presume persons accused of crime to be innocent until proven otherwise.

9. I shall not take unfair advantage of a fellow journalist.

10. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and the dignity of my profession, invoking the “conscience clause” when duties imposed on me conflict with the voice of my conscience.

11. I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as a journalist in such manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watchword.

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