TV5 news anchor Ed Lingao has apologized to President Rodrigo Duterte after he reported an inaccurate breaking news live on air about the President.
Lingao read a breaking news item during a live newscast saying that President Duterte called US President Brack Obama 'bastos' (rude). Turns out President Duterte never said that
In the late night edition of TV5’s prime news program Aksyon, Lingao broke the news that Duterte called US President Barack Obama “bastos” (rude) in an ambush meeting at Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Vientiane, Laos.
Turns out the remark was incomplete. What Duterte said is it would be "improper and highly bastos" for Obama to bring up the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines during their bilateral meeting in the summit.
“Last September 5, I read on-air a breaking news item that President Duterte called President Obama "bastos." Unfortunately, that breaking news item was written in error and is not accurate. The President did not call Obama "bastos;" what he said in his ambush interview in Laos was that it would be "improper and highly bastos" to bring up the issue of EJKs during the bilateral meet. As I understand it, TV5 officials are now looking into how this error was made,” the veteran journalist posted in his Facebook account.
He said he is not authorized to release a statement on behalf of TV5 but he would like to apologize for the error he committed.
“I try to fight for the things I believe in, but I am also ready to apologize for mistakes which I am a part of. As the presenter who read the erroneous breaking story, I apologize to the President, to the public, and to my colleagues for that error. That error is now being looked into. I hope that the error does not distract us from the many other pressing issues that we now face,” he said.
Lingao also pleaded to angry people to stop threatening him in the social media.
“To those who have been posting angry messages on my wall, I try to understand your anger. But please bear in mind that whatever you feel or think, whether you really believe that we are corrupt "presstitutes," no one has the right to threaten other people. So please, do not threaten my colleagues or use this error to justify the murder or harassment of journalists. Salamat po,” he said.
Duterte had made headlines when he called Obama a “son of a whore” which resulted to the US President to cancel his planned meeting with him, saying he’s doubtful the meeting would be productive.
Source: TNP, AsianPolicy
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