CLARK FIELD — When one of several Malacañang spokesmen said that the government and the news media have agreed on coverage guidelines, it was a good thing another spokesman jumped in to say that it was not so.

(Some Malacañang press briefings have this added entertainment value of taxpayers being able to watch one talking head saying in the same forum the exact opposite of another big head, with the truth probably lying elsewhere.)

That denial was in order. It seemed that the communication secretary who announced the allegedly approved working arrangements was not familiar with the media setup and practices in this country.

If he knew his business, he would not have made that premature announcement about approved guidelines after emerging from a meeting with some people who do not seem to represent either the working press or the media owners.

* * *

WATCHDOGS: It is best that any arrangement on media coverage of events with potential security implications be discussed and adopted with the approval of the media owners and leaders of the organized working press.

In other words, government communication managers should talk to the right people.

It helps when Malacañang communication officials sit down, as they did, with media “watchdogs” – a term we use to refer to outside outfits that presume to monitor and rate media performance.

The problem here is that these watchdogs, whose good intentions we grant, may not be able to (1) speak for the working press and then (2) ensure compliance with the guidelines that they discuss and sign with government officials.

In their haste, or ignorance of the media terrain, Malacanang’s communication secretaries might be talking to the wrong parties.

* * *

COMPLIANCE: Mention is made here of the media owners. In the ultimate analysis these are the key people who decide how their workers perform on the beat. They lay down the rules, crack the whip and compel compliance.

Talk with the owners, or at least with their publishers, editors and managers. (Note: The publisher is not necessarily the owner, but only the owner’s representative.)

If the media people with whom Malacañang’s communication secretaries talked cannot commit compliance, why talk to them at all?

We want the rules laid down before another coverage fiasco explodes in our midst, but let us talk first to the right people.

* * *

PRINT VS BROADCAST: Another important point is that while there are common elements between print and broadcast media, they cannot be governed by the same coverage guidelines.

The simple reason is that print and broadcast media operate differently. Some rules or procedures that apply to one may not apply to the other.

An example is that of live coverage of broadcast media sometimes getting in the way of police operation. This problem is not as pronounced in print media coverage, so the rules for print are simpler.

In fact, in the Aug. 23 hostage incident, most of the complaints revolved around radio and TV coverage. The print media, with their older traditions and simpler procedures, were not much of a problem.

* * *

CDC REPORT: After a meeting here of the Capampangan in Media Inc. (CAMI), we chanced on Clark Development Corp. President Benny Ricafort, who is in the transition of either staying or giving way to an appointee of President Noynoy Aquino.

We asked Ricafort what he could look back to after two years as chief executive of the Clark Freeport Zone that now employs 60,000 (compare to 17,000 when Clark was under the Americans) and ships exports valued at $900 million annually.

His 3-2-1 goal is $3 billion in investments by 2014, $2 billion in annual exports, and 100,000 jobs by 2014. Will he stay and be able to pursue this goal?

In our hurried conversation, he said he has chalked up a 7.21 percent increase (P6.36 billion) in investments, supported by infrastructure projects worth P873,716,096 (completed and already bid out).

* * *

SACOBIA ROW: With its 32,000 hectares, Clark is actually bigger than Singapore. As its main zone (the core of Clark Field, former home base of the US 13^th Air Force) is filling up with locators, they have opened the hilly 27,600-hectare Sacobia area to the north.

Sacobia, which is designated in the plans as the Next Frontier, ran into a problem when local officials of Mabalacat (Pampanga) and Bamban (Tarlac) got into a dispute over quarrying and related issues in the river area between the towns.

Tarlac Gov. Vic Yap, whom we also met here, expressed hope the dispute will be ironed out when the boards of the two provinces meet soon. Failing that, I think the better solution is to ask the courts to rule on the conflicting claims.

Yap was with Bamban Mayor Ding Anunciacion, Capas Mayor T. J. Rodriguez and the governor’s executive assistant Joy Gilbert Lamorena. They hope that with President Aquino coming from the region it would now be easier to resolve the dispute.

* * *

SCTEX RUINED: Last Friday, btw, I drove friends to Subic Bay for an evaluation of the comparative advantages of Clark and Subic as investment sites.

While they were looking at physical locations, power sources and infrastructure, I was distressed that the 94-kilometer Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway connecting the two former US bases has developed potholes in many places.

Considering that the SCTEx is a brand-new highway that is underutilized, the holes are an indication of the substandard work done on the road. I noticed that the asphalt pavement that had disintegrated was only about two or three inches thick.

Also, in the Tipo area between Dinalupihan and Subic, there are now billboards! As one who loves to show off the scenic SCTEx to balikbayan friends, I grieve over the potholes and the ugly billboards.