President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday urged the public not to believe that media organizations are clean, saying he will disclose information proving that members of the media are allegedly being paid to pursue fake news stories ahead of the May 2019 elections.
In a speech during the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon, President Duterte again slammed anew the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism for its report on the Duterte family’s ballooning wealth, adding that the members of media organizations were “paid hacks.”
“Here in the Philippines, you don’t have investigative journalism… That PCIJ, don’t believe that. It’s a matter of money for them. I will show to you in the coming days why it boils down to money,” Duterte said.
He also called on the public not to believe in the critical reports of the news site Rappler against the administration.
“If there is no money, how will they survive? This Rappler, they are warik-warik,” Duterte said.
“Don’t say they are writers. How much do they earn as writers? Not enough to live. They accept money from clients to attack.
“AC-DC. They are paid hacks. Don’t believe that they are clean.”
Duterte urged the public not to turn a blind eye on their cars and houses.
“They keep on asking for money ever since. Those well-known writers? Maybe they don’t line up, but most of them do. Women? They even ask for women. Especially this one who is sick? That one keeps on asking,” he said.
“I will disclose these in the coming days. Just wait for it. Don’t believe these writers from Manila.”
He also said the TV network ABS-CBN owed the government money.
“That ABS-CBN son of a b***h, they have such a huge debt from the government. The owner of ABS-CBN, after martial law, ABS-CBN was returned to the Lopezes,” Duterte said.
Duterte had previously accused the network of allegedly refusing to air his campaign advertisement even if he had already paid for it during the 2016 presidential elections.
He said he paid ABS-CBN Corp. chairman emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez II to air his campaign ad, but the network “never showed it.”
Meanwhile, he also accused the media of “protecting the rich and hiding their secrets.”
“You protect the rich and hide their secrets, but attack us politicians who genuinely want reform. That’s the truth. You are just being paid, Duterte said.
This is not the first time that Duterte has singled out media organizations in his speeches.
Last week, he accused investigative journalists of being paid just to pursue stories against his family.
Three weeks ago, Rappler, its reporters and regional correspondents filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking an end to the President’s coverage ban against them.
The ban, which has been in effect for 14 months now, started in February last year when Pia Ranada, Rappler’s presidential beat reporter, was barred from entering the Palace and covering Duterte’s public events.
Malacañang then said that everyone had the right to file such a petition in a “free country” like the Philippines.
“It’s a free country. We do not interfere with the judiciary,” said Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.