Vico Sotto raised an issue involving Korina Sanchez
Veteran journalist Korina Sanchez reacted to the accusation made by Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto regarding her interview with businesswoman Sarah Discaya and her husband, Curlee Discaya.
In a Facebook post, Mayor Vico shared screenshots of interviews conducted by Korina and her fellow veteran journalist, Julius Babao, featuring the Discaya couple.
The Mayor alleged that monetary value was given in exchange for that feature on Korina and Julius’s platforms. He also pointed out that this did not go with the code of ethics, and the journalists would hide behind the essence of a “lifestyle feature” for their show, but the Mayor pointed out they were known as “journalists/broadcasters.”
Following that controversial post that Mayor Vico Sotto shared, based on the article in PEP, the camp of Korina Sanchez reacted.
Through a letter, the management of Korina’s show called Mayor Vico’s statement “slanderous” and could qualify for cyber libel complaints.
Korina’s camp noted that they featured the “rags-to-riches story” of Discaya, and the show had no obligation to question how this came to be because the format was not an investigative piece.
The show’s management also said that they tried to reach out to Mayor Vico several times, and they also informed veteran actress Coney Reyes regarding the Discaya interview. However, they said that the Mayor declined.
“In fairness to Ms. Sanchez, our host interviewer, she only found out she was interviewing a Pasig mayoralty candidate on the day itself and it was not Ms. Sanchez who was in contact with the couple for the interview,” the show’s management stressed.
Korina Sanchez’s camp also denied the alleged P10 million placement for an interview. In the statement, her show also stressed that the interview took place before the campaign period, and Discaya was not allowed to use the interview for her political stint.
The show’s management also stressed that just because Mayor Vico Sotto won, he would have the “authority over editorial prerogative, nor does it give you license to cast doubt against the integrity of seasoned journalists only because they interviewed your opponent.”
“We hope your issues have been clarified and we will be happy to entertain any more of your confusions. While we recognize free speech and the platforms with which we express opinions, there is also such a thing as thoughtful restraint that benefits truth and fairness. We all claim to be CHRISTIAN, after all,” Korina’s camp said.
As of this writing, Mayor Vico Sotto has not responded yet to the statement released by Korina Sanchez’s camp.