A SENATOR on Sunday renewed calls for the passage of a Magna Carta for Media after the shooting incident at the Senate on Wednesday.
In a press statement, Senator Erwin T. Tulfo pushed for Senate Bill No. 249, or the “Magna Carta for Workers in the Media and News Industry Act,” seeking to institutionalize standard minimum pay, overtime and night differential pay, security of tenure, insurance benefits, and hazard allowance for media practitioners.
“The May 13 incident in the Senate which threatened the safety of Filipino reporters is only one of the daily struggles they face. Let us give them the compensation and support that they are entitled to,” Mr. Tulfo said.
He said that the incident endangered Senate reporters, who lack proper training for police or combat reporting.
Members of the press had been asked to evacuate the Senate building about two hours after the gunshots rang out.
On Thursday, Senator Paolo Benigno A. Aquino IV also filed Senate Resolution No. 397, seeking probe into the Senate shootout, pushing for the enhancement of security protocol.
No casualty was recorded in the incident, according to Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Juanito Victor C. Remulla.
The shootout on Wednesday took place about an hour after Senator Ronald M. dela Rosa announced his potential arrest over Facebook live, asking his supporters to block authorities from entering the Senate building.
Mr. dela Rosa sought refuge at the Senate for three days since May 11 as the International Criminal Court unsealed an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
Hours after the incident, Mr. dela Rosa fled the Senate premises early on Thursday. — Kaela Patricia B. Gabriel
