TV5 news anchor Ed Lingao wrote a personal letter of apology on his Facebook account after reading an erroneous, inaccurate breaking news item live on air.
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| Ed Lingao |
The veteran journalist clarified that Duterte actually said it would be "improper and highly bastos" for Obama to bring up the issue of Extra-judicial Killings in their bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos.
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.
I am not authorized to issue any statement, or give any apology on behalf of TV5 where I am an anchor/presenter, so this is a completely personal post on my part. 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.Lingao also appealed to the public to stop threatening him on his Facebook wall.
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.
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