DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Newly appointed presidential spokesperson Salvador “Sal” Panelo on Wednesday said President-elect Rodrigo Duterte did not mean to justify the killings of journalists who are corrupt.
In an ambush interview at Marco Polo Hotel here, Panelo said Duterte was only being honest about the reality of corruption in the media and does not intend to endorse media killings.
“What he was saying last night is that when a journalist is killed, it doesn’t mean he’s being killed as a journalist. That person is being killed because he has done something wrong to another fellow man,” Panelo said.
“In other words, regardless of whether you’re a lawyer, journalist, public official, if you committed a grievous wrong to another person, then that person with a blood debt will have to pay for it. That’s against the law, but that is the reason, the rationale for the killing,” he added.
Panelo refuted the international press headlines and said Duterte never endorsed media killings.
“He never endorsed killings, he’s against criminality, drug lords, anything that it is illegal in this country. On that basis, he won for the presidency,” Panelo said.
Asked about Duterte’s perceived angry tone about slain journalist Jun Pala, Panelo said the president-elect was only speaking about his personal experience with the reporter.
During the press conference on Tuesday, Duterte said Pala deserved to be killed for being a “rotten son of a b****.”
Pala, a journalist, politician and Duterte’s vocal critic, was shot by unidentified gun men in Davao City in 2003.
READ: Duterte endorses killing corrupt journalists
“If you are an upright journalist, nothing will happen to you… The example here is Pala. I do not want to diminish his memory but he was a rotten son of a bitch. He deserved it.” said Duterte, who once admitted his ties to the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group accused of being behind thousands of extrajudicial killings of criminals in Davao City where Duterte served as mayor for two decades.
“He must be speaking from facts that he has personal knowledge of, otherwise he would not be saying that,” Panelo said of Duterte’s tirade against Pala.
Panelo said Pala’s murder should be a “wake-up call” for the police to investigate the still unresolved murder.
Panelo said Duterte never justified media killings.
“It’s never a justification to kill a journalist, lawyer or any public official just because he is corrupt. If he or she is corrupt, then you file charges against him. But not kill or injure him,” Panelo said.
During his press conference Tuesday night, Duterte endorsed media killings and blamed media corruption as the cause of these extrajudicial killings.
He said journalists would not be killed if they practiced responsible journalism.
“Kaya namamatay kasi nabayaran na they take sides or nasobrahan nila ang atake (They [journalists] are killed because they are paid to take sides or they attacked too much)… It’s not because you’re a journalist you’re exempted from assassination if you’re a son of a b****,” Duterte said.
“The Constitution can no longer help you pag binaboy mo isang tao (if you disrespect a person). Your freedom of expression can’t help you if you’ve done something wrong with the guy,” he added.
READ: Duterte: Media corruption root cause of journalists’ killings
In a statement, Duterte’s spokesperson Peter Laviña said Duterte was taken out of context by the international and national press.
“The expected headlines aside from the new cabinet members would have been the declaration of war against red tape and the unnecessary fees imposed on hapless citizens. Yet, national and international media lapped up on the issue of media killings. Again and as usual Rody Duterte was taken out of context, misinterpreted and misunderstood,” Lavina said. RAM
READ: Laviña says Duterte ‘taken out of context’ on journalist killings