TAGUM CITY – While the public euphoria still lingers after the successful hosting of 2015 Palarong Pambansa in this city which was creatively described with the hashtag the #BestPalaroEver, the committee who handles the media, however, earned flak because of “poor accommodation.”
Criticisms ranging from food preparation or the lack of it and no proper coordination were among the issues raised by some accredited members of the media invited to cover the national sporting events.
“I have been covering the Palaro for ten years and this year’s accommodation to us is very poor especially the foods and refreshments they served to us,” says a radio reporter from General Santos City.
The reporter who requested anonymity described the snacks being served to the reporters as “cheap slice of bread” while the staff and volunteers from the Media Committee was served with a signature Goldilocks bread.
“That’s really discriminatory,as some of their staff has hoarded the foods under the table,” he said. Another broadcast media staff from Visayas region also complained of what he described as a “special treatment” given to the members of the media who came from Manila.
“They can easily enter and leave the venue without any questions from police authorities manning both the entrance ways,” he said.
He recalled that during the 2015 Palarong Pambansa Opening Ceremony, he and his colleagues from the other regions were given the hard time to enter within the premise of Davao del Norte Sports and Tourism Complex despite the media accredited IDs they wore.
“There is no proper coordination since that day. We don’t understand why the police won’t let us in that time. They even instructed us to follow the queue and log our names in attendance sheet. What is the purpose then of our media IDs?,” he complained.
“That happened not once but thrice,” he said, adding that others have also experienced the same.
The Media Committee is under the auspices of Davao del Norte’s Provincial Information Office. When asked to comment on the issue, Sofonias Gabonada, PIO Coordinator, explained that only “snacks and refreshments” were served to the media covering the Palarong Pambansa.
Gabonada, however, clarified later during Tagum Biz Talk that “national media and the DepEd National Office documentation team were served with complete meals, snacks and refreshments” all throughout the duration of the Palarong Pambansa.
The Media Accreditation form that was distributed to the media outfits, according to Gabonada, was a “generic” form provided by DepEd.
He added the reason why there were no meals provided to all was because the provincial government will pay their respective media outfit for its coverage.
“The availability and accessibility of the game results are our utmost concern for this year’s Palarong Pambansa,” Gabonada said. (davaotoday.com)
