What is the most popular or favorite beat or assignment in media coverage?

Is it Malacañang, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, the Department of Foreign Affairs or the Bangko Sentral?

The answer is none of the above.

Rather, it is a mere bureau of the Department of Finance – the Bureau of Customs.

Some 400 “reporters” and “editors” from at least three press corps cover the BoC. Many of these come from weekly tabloids.

Quite sadly, most of these media practitioners could hardly be considered professional journalists.

And so one may ask: Why is such a small government agency so vastly covered?

The question actually answers itself.

Apparent there is much to “cover” in a revenue agency vested with so much discretionary power over the pricing of imports.

And so the new BoC chief announced a crackdown on such bogus journalists who insist on “doing the rounds” in Aduana.           

We know that the campaign would draw flack from free-press advocates, civil libertarians, and the pseudo-journalists themselves who hide behind the cloak of the Bill of Rights to further their non-journalistic agenda.

While these “journalists” have no public accountability, their activities “in pursuit” of the news have an intimidating effect on BoC officials and personnel and could be used by tariff-dodging importers to facilitate their cargo.    

Newly appointed Customs Commissioner Rozzano R. Biazon’s priority to go after smugglers is unprecedented in the sense that it includes so-called pseudo-journalists who promote and protect smugglers.

Previous Customs commissioners had failed or refused to clamp down on fake journalists.

Biazon said he would ask the help of legitimate media to police themselves and help expose and “eliminate” these pseudo-journalists from the bureau.

“I would have to coordinate with legitimate press to come up with a system of accreditation just like what we did with Senate, Congress, and Malacanang. I would coordinate with this group to come up with some guideline or rule that we could implement here,” he was quoted by a broadsheet as saying after the turnover ceremony at the Social Hall of the Port of Manila.

Malacanang promptly supported Biazon’s plan.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said over the weekend that Biazon was merely following President Aquino’s instructions to raise collections and rid the agency of graft.

“What [Biazon] said was very clear. What is black is black, what is white is white. It does not depend on what you do or what your profession is. If you engage in illegal activities under his watch...he will go after you,” Valte said.

The former congressman from Muntinlupa said he wanted the expulsion of media personnel from the bureau “as soon as possible”. That is,  if they fail to show proof that they are accredited by a “recognized” media organization.

He also asked the help of legitimate media covering Customs to expose these fake reporters whom he said give the journalism profession a bad reputation.

But even as he implements a crackdown, Biazon said he would make sure that freedom of expression is not compromised.