A staunch reminder and a stone kept at bay

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

If there’s anything significant that we should be picking up from Wednesday night’s Senate shootout, it’s the constant reminder that real journalists are putting their lives on the line to make sure that the public gets accurate, real-time information, the kind of thing you wouldn’t see by simply scrolling through your screen.

Journalists never want to be the news. They just want to be able to do honest work, one with public interest in mind, despite the apparent economic, social, and political risks.

And now, cut to May 13, 2026. Reports of the rumored arrest of Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa swirled, with National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents spotted on the Senate side of the GSIS Building.

While tensions were expected, they hadn’t escalated to the level we expected that night.

Shots were fired, one after another, and heard on the second floor of the Senate, with reporters scrambling to get away from the scene. Shortly after, the Senate went on lockdown.

Reporters kept their phones on, responded to anchors’ phone calls, and turned on their livestreams, while cameramen, dragging their heavy cameras, captured every moment that needed to be reported.

Up until the end of their lockdown, and even afterward, with many of them already doing overtime, they continued to report on the situation from inside and outside the Senate building.

No one got shot. But as someone who saw the end of a small gun at an early age, I know their lives probably changed forever.

That’s what you wouldn’t get from your usual content creators online — especially the political talking heads.

You get accurate, real-time information from actual people whose job is not only to explain things but to ask questions so they can give you the full context.

And all of that, in a very volatile industry where they have to compete with content creators for your attention, and, if it hasn’t been established, endure the physical and mental risks they take.

And all of this, just because “Bato” won’t surrender himself to be taken to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands.

As Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano stated Thursday, May 14, there were around 27 “warning shots” fired at the purported opponent, who was tagged as an NBI driver.

NBI Director Melvin Matibag already denied this, but the details of who did it and what actually happened are a longer story, one we should be anticipating at another time.

Again, back to the person at the center of what happened — Bato dela Rosa.

To recap, fresh from the sudden shakedown of the Senate leadership on Monday, May 11, dela Rosa reappeared after six to seven months of hiding from everyone.

He did confirm to Karmina Constantino earlier Wednesday that he was hiding from the ICC, which, also on Monday, confirmed and unsealed the warrant against him.

So, imagine if he had just surrendered on Monday. Instead of going on a wild goose chase with NBI agents, this would not have happened.

It took the journalists a lot of courage and resolve to stay within the locked-down Senate building. Kudos to them, but that never should have happened.

Special mentions to the women who rightfully deserve the recognition — Victoria Tulad, Zyann Ambrosio, Maeann Los Baños, Sundy Locus, Jairo Bolledo, my sister’s professor Robert Mano, and fellow WVSU alumnus Darylle Sarmiento — who are the only names off the top of my head.

It has to be stressed that all of the media personnel deserve recognition from the public.

But that recognition shouldn’t be in the form of awards or accolades.

It is in the form of trust.

Trust that when things like these happen, it will be the journalists who will leap out first, with the end goal of telling you what is happening, how it happened, and other important things in between.

Trust that when some bad-faith actors start lying through their teeth, the journalists will be there to push back against them.

Trust that everything they do in their job will be for you.