Journalists covering one of the more prominent Cabinet secretaries are growing increasingly frustrated and some are outright fed up about attending events where the official is billed as a guest, as he treats reporters like they carry the plague.

At a recent high-profile gathering in Makati City, organizers made it explicitly clear before the event even began: no ambush interviews, no questions. The secretary would appear, and that would be that.

“He’s always like that. Covering him is a nightmare. Why does he even show up when this isn’t even his area?” fumed one reporter of a major broadsheet, voicing what many in the press pool have long felt but rarely said out loud.

The frustration runs deeper than just access. Reporters say the official has made an art form of dodging substantive questions, even on matters that fall squarely within his portfolio.

“He hides behind his speech and then rushes out the door. It’s the same at every event. And sometimes, even when he does face reporters, he throws the question back at them and gets snappy,” the journalist added, describing a pattern that has become all too familiar on the beat.

As a Cabinet secretary, communicating clearly and openly with the press is not optional — it is a core function of the job. The media serves as the conduit between government and the Filipino people, and a Cabinet official who stonewalls reporters is, in effect, stonewalling the people he is mandated to serve.

More damaging, however, is what his silence signals. When a senior official consistently evades, deflects, and rushes out before questions can be asked, reporters — and the public — are left to draw their own conclusions.

And those conclusions aren’t flattering: that the official may be out of his depth, is ill-prepared, or has no good answers to give.