Inquirer apologizes to Vicente, readers

MANILA, Philippines – The Inquirer apologizes to its readers who took offense at the newspaper’s use of a series of photographs of a defense witness, Demetrio Vicente, who testified on Tuesday in the Senate impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato C. Corona.

The Inquirer issued a statement acknowledging that Vicente’s photos, which appeared on the front page of the newspaper’s two-star edition and on Page A20 of its one-star edition on Wednesday, had offended some of its readers.

“For this, we sincerely apologize. It is not our intention to disparage Mr. Vicente in any way,” the Inquirer said on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts. (The INQUIRER.net earlier on Wednesday posted a brief statement that was issued initially by the paper.)

In comments posted on the two major social networking sites, a number of readers described as “insensitive,” “tasteless,” “mean” and “cruel” the newspaper’s use of the photographs—as well as the accompanying caption—that tended to highlight the effects of a stroke on the face of the witness.