Presidential aspirant Senator Manny Pacquiao has warned the public against a certain presidential candidate who continues to refuse media interviews and said "if you have good intentions, you are open to share your plans and platforms."
"Pero kung hindi maganda ang intensyon mo syempre may itatago ka, iiwas ka sa mga tanong (But if you do not have good intentions, of course, you will hide and avoid questions)," Pacquiao told reporters during his campaign activity in Cagayan de Oro over the weekend.
And while these candidates have the right to refuse public scrutiny, the lawmaker said, their actions are clear signs that they do not recognize accountability.
As early as today, he said, some candidates are already showing hostility to the media.
The camp of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has been hostile to the media by preventing reporters from getting near him and not granting access to conduct ambush interviews. Marcos Jr. himself is also known for skipping big debates and interviews.
"Makikita niyo yung ugali ng isang kandidato na kung ito ay may magandang intensyon o hindi (You will see the character of the candidate, if he or she has good intentions or not)," the lawmaker said.
"Ayaw nating maulit pa yung panahon na walang press freedom at lahat naiipit at maraming namamatay (We don't want to happen again what happened in the past when there was no press freedom and when there were many who were killed)," he added.
Pacquiao also called on the members of the media to resist attempts to curtail press freedom as "press freedom is the symbol of our democracy."
"Yung mga media natin malayang makapagpahayag at dito natin makikita na ang ating ini-exercise ang demokrasya natin (Our media has the freedom of speech, and from there we can see that we're able to exercise freely our democracy)," he added.
If elected president, Pacquiao assured that he will give the media more access to information. They will also be given transparency, he added.