BATANGAS CITY – Members of the Batangas Newswriters Association (BNA) suddenly walked out of a press conference called by Capitol officials Thursday over the refusal of Legal Officer Joel Montealto to apologize for his remarks that apparently tainted the image of the local press.

The action that saw 10 media workers belonging to the BNA leaving the press conference was led by DZMM/Philippine Star correspondent and BNA President Arnell Ozaeta.

“This is a walk out,” Ozaeta said, shortly after Montealto rejected a call for him to apologize for alleged irresponsible statements he made the previous day when he tagged scribes of stories critical of the Liberal Party (LP) and Governor Vilma Santos as supposed “paid reporters”.

Montealto, who did not mention names of the supposed paid reporters, is also the LP’s spokesperson in the province.

Ozaeta said that Montealto’s statement, which he purportedly sent via email, was a faulty generalization that hurt the credibility of every media practitioner in the province.

While Montealto assured that he was not referring to any member of the BNA, Ozaeta said Montealto painted every mediaman who would be critical of the governor and the LP as corrupt.

In the heat of the discussion, Information Officer Jing Segismundo offered an apology to the mediamen but Montealto’s firm stance prompted the media walkout from the press conference which was called at Max’s Restaurant, here, to address issues on infrastructure projects, hospital equipment and other issues related to the governor.

Also present at the press conference were Dr. Danilo Aguilera, chief of the Batangas Provincial Hospital; Health Officer Rosvilinda Ozaeta; and Provincial Administrator Victor Reyes.