Manila Times exec says Salvosa was ‘asked to’ resign; editor responds he ‘planned to resign anyway’

The president and CEO of the Manila Times on Thursday said the editor who questioned the publication of a story linking media organizations and a lawyers' group to the supposed ouster plot against President Rodrigo Duterte was "asked to" resign.

"Mr. [Felipe Salvosa II] did not resign; he was asked to do so,"  said Dante "Klink" Ang II in a statement that was shared on the Manila Times Facebook page on Wednesday, after the editor announced his resignation from the paper on Thursday via a Facebook post to his friends.

"He was quoted as such in some reports, but the other publications have twisted the fact to smear the reputation of his former employer," Ang added.

Ang ang also claimed Salvosa "behaved unethically" when he posted a statement on social media "without first notifying or clarifying with our Chairman Emeritus... the issues that he had with the story."

‘I planned to resign anyway’

Sought for comment on Ang's remarks, Salvosa initially told GMA News Online: "Their statement stands for itself, let the readers judge it."

"I thank The Times for the opportunity of working for Asia’s oldest English-language daily," he added.

When asked if he had been asked to resign, Salvosa, in a subsequent message to GMA News Online, said: "That’s correct, but I planned to resign anyway."

In his statement, Manila Times' Ang also noted that their newspaper "has a long-standing open-door policy that allows any employee to contact or visit our Chairman Emeritus, especially on editorial matters."

"Mr. Salvosa did not object to the story our Chairman Emeritus, nor did the former managing editor suggest ways of rewriting or handling the piece," the CEO's statement read.

"He was merely told that copy-editing of the story was no longer required as that was done by the editor in chief," it added.

Not evidence

Salvosa resigned days after the Manila Times published a story, complete with a matrix, linking the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, VERA Files, Rappler, and the National Union People's Lawyers to a supposed plot to oust Duterte from power.

The article was written by Ang's father, Manila Times publisher Dante Ang, citing sources.

PCIJ, VERA Files, Rappler and the NUPL all denied the alleged conspiracy to oust Duterte.

The editor, who is a journalism professor at the University of Santo Tomas, questioned the older Ang's story on Facebook, saying "[a] diagram is by no means an evidence of 'destabilization' or an 'ouster plot'."

In the same post, Salvosa also said it "is a very huge stretch for anyone to accuse PCIJ, Vera Files and Rappler of actively plotting to unseat the President."

"I know people in these news organizations and they are not coup plotters," he said.

'Story in itself'

"The Manila Times stands by our 'matrix' piece, which is a story in itself," Klink Ang said.

The CEO continued to defend the report, saying his father had done "his own background check, using several sources, before submitting his draft for editing."

The younger Ang also noted "there was an effort to solicit a reaction from at least one of the names mentioned, but that could not be secured as of press time on Sunday."

Lastly, the Manila Times executive maintained that "the oust-plot story was not a PR piece" and "was merely a legitimate news item.

"Dr. [Dante] Ang's appointment as special envoy has no line item or office in the government or remuneration of any kind," Klink Ang said in his statement.

"He was simply acting on his journalistic instincts having been given an opportunity to write a legitimate story, that was later confirmed by the Palace," he added. — MDM, GMA News