INQUIRER.net apologizes to Sen. Cynthia Villar

Sen. Cynthia Villar (Photo from an INQUIRER.net file video)

INQUIRER.net on Monday (Aug. 20, 2018) posted a story quoting Sen. Cynthia Villar as saying there will be no extension on the closure of Boracay Island. Thus, the reopening of the resort island, the senator said, would be held on Oct. 26 as earlier scheduled.

The story then went on to say that the resort island is located in Palawan. Realizing the mistake, INQUIRER.net corrected the story and immediately reposted the new one. But some netizens had apparently read the first story, screengrabbed it and shared it on social media, thus making it appear that Sen. Villar really was the one who made the mistake. The truth is Sen. Villar never mentioned anything about Boracay’s location when interviewed by reporters, only about the no extension issue to its closure. The wrong information was added to the story by the writer and the error was not spotted when the story was edited.

For this, we sincerely apologize to Sen. Villar and to our readers for this error and lapse. We’re currently reviewing our editorial systems and procedures to prevent similar mistakes from being committed again.

Editors