PALACE DEFENDS NOY'S TIRADES VS DE
CASTRO
MANILA, AUGUST 2, 2012 (PHILSTAR) By
Delon Porcalla - Malacañang defended anew yesterday President Aquino's tirades
against newscaster Noli de Castro, noting there was no better occasion to
express the criticisms than during the 25th anniversary of ABS-CBN's news
program TV Patrol.
"We believe that it was the right place and the right time. We believe it was
a proper moment to inform ABS-CBN TV Patrol on the actuations of their
anchorman," reiterated presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda.
"We believe the President was not in error when he decided to make that
speech on the 25th anniversary of TV Patrol," Lacierda told a news briefing.
Lacierda earlier said that a majority of Filipinos supported Aquino's bashing
of the former vice president.
"The public felt very strongly in favor of the President," he said
previously, downplaying speculations Aquino earned the ire of the people, media
practitioners in particular, for picking a fight with media, apart from
violating press freedom.
Lacierda disagreed with the observation of the National Union of Journalists
in the Philippines (NUJP) that the President has a "whine and bash routine"
where he takes the opportunity to humiliate certain people he disagrees with on
occasions wherein he is the guest.
"I don't agree with the statements made by NUJP. We can agree to disagree but
we stand by (what we have declared before)," Lacierda said.
Furthermore, as what several newspaper columnists have opined, "the basic
opposition to the President's speech in TV Patrol was not so much to substance,
it was more of the occasion, the time and venue."
"We have a lot of people who have different opinions on that. Some columnists
as well have mentioned that it was the right place and the right time," Lacierda
added.
He assured media they could still invite Aquino to be their guest of honor
during special occasions.
"You can expect the President to be always frank with his statements. He has
always been forthright," Lacierda said.
Lacierda sees no problem with the presidential tirades last week in Manila
Hotel for De Castro's apparent non-professionalism by making off the cuff
remarks on live television.
"We don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that there were negative
comments. We monitored the media stations – the comments in those online
publications that came out," Lacierda recalled.
He said Aquino's specific complaint against the snide remarks of De Castro –
who served as vice president for six years until June 2010 – cannot be
considered as having a "chilling effect" on media in general.
"There were comments coming from certain media personalities. And,
understandably, how can you have a chilling effect if they were still able to
comment on the speech of the President?" Lacierda asked.
"It shows that the President wasn't dictating on what media should be doing.
He only made a fair commentary on a particular anchorman in TV Patrol," he said.
In essence, what the Chief Executive only wanted was for media, reporters and
news anchors alike, to "get your facts straight, contextualize the facts, and
report it properly," Lacierda explained.
This was the same message Aquino reminded executives of BusinessWorld, which
also celebrated its 25th anniversary on the same day, July 27, but the only
difference was TV Patrol's coverage "got more prominence" than the business
newspaper.
"When it came to TV Patrol, apparently it was more focused on one anchorman.
But the overall emphasis was consistent with both BusinessWorld, when he
attended the anniversary of BusinessWorld and with TV Patrol," Lacierda
clarified.
"He mentioned three things: Get your facts straight; contextualize – make
sure that you contextualize the facts, and then you report it properly," he
said.
Aquino said negativism in media was holding back the country's progress.
Aquino minced no words in saying that many of the problems he faced came from
the previous administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and De
Castro as vice president.
In remarks that caused an uneasy silence among the party crowd, Aquino
singled out de Castro for undue negativism and voicing "baseless speculations."
Aquino recalled a news report about the rescue of a child by the National
Bureau of Investigation, where De Castro reportedly quipped that the rescue may
have been a setup.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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