Mayor Vico Sotto exposes alleged ‘paid interviews’ with contractors

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto criticized veteran journalists for conducting what he alleged were “paid interviews” with contractors Curlee Discaya and his wife Sarah.

Mayor Sotto posted on Facebook photos of the the said personalities with Korina Sanchez and Julius Babao with the following message:

“With these interviews again going viral, let’s look at it from a different angle…

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Mayor Vico Sotto exposes alleged ‘paid interviews’ with contractors

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Bago tanggapin ng mga kilalang journalists ang alok para mag-interview ng Contractor na Pumapasok sa Politika, hindi ba nila naisip na, “Uy teka, ba’t kaya handa ’to magbigay ng 10 million* para lang magpa-interview sa akin??”

I know for a fact that there are many good, honest people in media who are disappointed, if not angered, at practices like this which undermine the integrity of their profession.

In this case, maybe they didn’t do anything technically “illegal,” but at the very least it should be considered shameful and violative of the spirit of their code of ethics. Puwede silang magtago sa grey areas: “hindi naman journalism ito… more of lifestyle lang… kailangan kasi ng sponsor…” pero ’wag na tayong maglokohan.

They rose to national prominence as broadcast journalists/news personalities; puhunan [dapat] nila ang kanilang reputasyon at kredibilidad… at sa ganitong kalakaran, ito rin ang reputasyon at kredibilidad na pinahihiram nila sa mga corrupt kapalit ng (money emoji).

Let’s remember that corruption is systemic… it permeates into every sector of society, not just government. But we can slowly but surely break this cycle if more and more of us consistently do our part, wherever we are and whatever are position may be, one step at a time.

(*not an exact figure pero alam nyo na)

On the comment section, he added:

“Hindi naman sa gusto kong gumawa ng bagong kaaway.. pero tingin ko kailangan din mapag-usapan ito eh. Nagkataon malakas ako nung halalan pero kung sa iba nila ginawa to? Baka wala na. Anyway. Kayo na po ang bahala sa kin.”

(Photo source: Instagram – Vico Sotto)