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Gabriela calls edited video a bid to break link between Duterte, ABS-CBN shutdown
By ERWIN COLCOL,GMA NewsGabriela Women's Party Representative Arlene Brosas on Thursday slammed Malacañang for editing out parts of President Rodrigo Duterte's speech earlier this week involving oligarchs.
In a statement, Brosas said that the move to edit out parts of Duterte's speech before soldiers in Jolo, Sulu was "a vain attempt to break any connection between Duterte's tirades against the oligarchs and the shutdown of ABS-CBN."
"In fact, his full unedited speech has confirmed what we have been saying from the start of the franchise hearing -- that this is all about the President's vindictive string-pulling to make sure that the network is out this year, at the expense of jobs and press freedom," Brosas said.
Duterte, in the speech, boasted of dismantling the country's oligarchy without declaring martial law, pointing out that these oligarchs have been controlling the country's economy for years.
Although the President's speech about oligarchs came only days after the ABS-CBN franchise application was denied, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte was not referring to the Lopezes
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However, an unedited audio clip of the chief executive's speech indicated that Duterte talked about ABS-CBN and the scuttled oligarchy after a rant against some business leaders, and these appear to have been edited out of the video posted on the website of the Presidential Communications Operations Office.
Despite the uncut audio showing that Duterte was talking about ABS-CBN, Roque maintained that the president’s statement was not about the Lopez family.
Roque said he was not privy to whether or not the video was edited to remove the controversial remarks.
Brosas said this incident only shows need for a more free press to look into what is being officially aired by government agencies.
"Public statements of the Chief Executive are always imbued with public interest, as these constitute policy pronouncements that can affect the lives of ordinary citizens," she said.
"Hence, any modification of the broadcast version of the speech deprives the public of transparency and their right to know," she added. -NB, GMA News