Sunday, March 02, 2008 Gabriela takes up the fight vs dad By Danilo Adorador III
THE Gabriela women's group has taken the cudgels for a lady reporter who was berated by a Cagayan de Oro City councilor while pursuing a story early this week.
Lawyer Beverly Musni, regional legal counsel for Gabriela Partylist in Northern Mindanao, has asked the City Council committee on ethics to investigate Councilor Alfonso Goking's "conduct unbecoming" when he lashed out and unceremoniously drove away ABS-CBN reporter Madelyn Veluz from a government office.
"He's (Goking) a chauvinist, in every sense of the word. I would never pay a dime for the salary of a public official with this kind of attitude," Musni said.
The City Council, she said, can initiate an investigation even without a formal complaint "just by taking judicial notice" on the incident.
If a verified complaint is needed, she said Gabriela could file it in behalf of the lady reporter.
Veluz and her cameraman went to the Federation of Senior Citizens Associations (Cafesca) office, which is headed by Councilor Goking, to verify a complaint that its premises had been turned into "mahjong parlor."
Saying he got irked at the reporter's persistence, Goking admitted he shooed away Veluz and told her "Ngano ngano sige man ka'g balik-balik? Nangita ka'g bikil? (Why do you keep coming back? Are you looking for trouble?)"
The councilor has drawn flak from the incident, much so that he refused to apologize and even threatened to file charges against the TV reporter.
In an interview with dxIF Bombo Radyo Friday, the councilor defended his treatment of the journalist, saying, "People of my age really get irritable all the time."
He said he doesn't fear of the possible backlash the incident may generate to his political career."
"If the people did not approve of what I did then so be it. My concern is only for my fellow senior citizens," he said.
Goking, who is serving his last term in the City Council, said senior citizens are eyeing him to represent them in a partylist for the elderly.
A Cagayan de Oro Press Club official, however, said Goking's unrepentant stance on the incident could end his career."
COPC spokesperson Uriel Quilinguing said the entire media community of Cagayan de Oro felt insulted and viewed Goking's behavior as seen on the TV footage of ABS-CBN as "an insult and a harassment."
Quilinguing dared Goking to file the libel charges, saying such move "will end his political career."
Vice Mayor Vicente Emano told ABS-CBN that he lamented Goking's conduct adding that the coucilor might have forgotten that he is a public official.
"Dugay na ako nga pulitiko apan wala ako sukad mangasaba og reporter (I have been a politician for so long but I haven't scold any reporter," Emano said.
