Gina Lopez defends ABS-CBN amid Duterte tirades: Misinformation 'whispered' to the president

Former environment secretary Gina Lopez on Thursday defended ABS-CBN, the media conglomerate that her family controls, amid repeated tirades by President Rodrigo Duterte against the broadcast network.

Lopez spoke about the issue in an interview on "New To Go," when she was asked by anchorwoman Kara David whether she thought the issue affected her fate at the Commission on Appointments, which voted to reject her from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources post on Wednesday.

"The president is surrounded by many people and I don't know who's whispering to him things," she said, before revealing a conversation she had with ABS-CBN President Carlo Katigbak about the network's coverage of the Duterte administration.

"When I talked to the president of ABS, Carlo, he told me, 'Gina I already posted somebody there to make sure whatever we have in news is not overly critical.' So there seems to be a misinformation that's going to the president," she added.

Duterte has repeatedly lashed out at ABS-CBN for what he said was the network's unfair coverage, while hitting out at the network supposedly swindling him after allegedly not airing a political ad his campaign had already paid for. He has also described the owners of ABS-CBN repeatedly as "oligarchs."

Last week, Duterte threatened to block the renewal of the network's broadcast franchise.

Despite her rejection by the CA, Lopez praised Duterte for his bravery and his support for her advocacies.

"I think many times, during the process, he has issued statements supporting me. Many times. I guess he feels he has to let the process run its way," she said. —Rie Takumi/JST, GMA News