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By Efren L. Danao Senior
Reporter
Some Senate reporters walked out
of a press conference on the renewable energy bill and the
“Quit Coal” campaign after the media handlers of Sen. Juan
Miguel Zubiri insisted on waiting for a news team from television
giant ABS-CBN before starting.
Senate reporter Arlene Lim Farol
of ABC-5, one of those who walked out Wednesday, said they had been
waiting at the MV Spirit docked at the Bay Terminal at the Cultural
Center of the Philippines on Roxas Boulevard in Manila for almost
one hour when they were told that the press conference, scheduled at
11 a.m., would start only once the news team from ABS-CBN arrived.
“If ABS-CBN is the only station
important to them, then let ABS-CBN cover the event all alone,”
said an apparently angry Ed de Guzman, the ABC-5 cameraman with
Farol.
There were other reporters who
walked out of the press conference, but they refused to be quoted.
ABS-CBN reporter Lynda Jumilla
who let another colleague cover the press conference, said the media
handlers of Zubiri should have started with the press conference on
schedule and arranged for a later interview for the tardy ABS-CBN
news team.
Zubiri is sponsoring the bill on
renewable energy, which he considers vital for the country’s
energy security.
Sen. Pia Cayetano, chairman of
the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, has also
filed a resolution urging the executive department to adopt a
program promoting less dependence on coal and encouraging the shift
toward renewable energy.
She said the government should
phase out the use of coal-powered plants, which at present supply
the country with 2,000 megawatts of power.
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