Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto’s recent criticism of veteran journalists has captured national attention, with netizens, and some from the broadcast profession, flooding social media to share their thoughts on the issue.
In a Facebook post last Thursday, Mayor Vico called out media figures after resurfaced interviews with Sarah and Curlee Discaya began circulating again. The Discayas are owners of construction companies involved in several public works projects.
Without explicitly naming the journalists, Mayor Vico shared screenshots of TV interviews that featured the Discayas in a flattering light. He questioned whether media figures had failed to exercise due diligence, suggesting that the interviews may have been paid for or used as subtle political promotion.
“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,” Mayor Vico wrote.
“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].”
The next day, the executive producers from Korina’s programs “Rated Korina” and “Korina Interviews” posted an open letter addressed to Mayor Vico, defending their editorial choices and accusing the mayor of making damaging insinuations. “There is no such thing as a P10 million placement for an interview. This is simply not true. Malicious insinuations posted on Facebook and which publicly besmirch the reputation of our shows or Ms. Sanchez clearly constitute cyber libel,” they wrote.
They insisted the Discayas were featured purely as public-interest subjects: “The stories of many personalities including politicians and public figures — including your own uncle Sen. Tito Sotto and your cousins VM Gian Sotto and MTRCB Chief Lala Sotto — have been the content of Rated Korina for decades.” On the choice to interview the Discayas, they added, “Their rags to riches lifestory is their story to tell. It was aired walang dagdag at walang bawas.”
They revealed they had tried to interview Mayor Vico himself. “We have reached out to your camp a few times since your former mayoral term and even informed your mother, Ms. Coney Reyes, about this feature story on the Discayas — but you had always declined requests for an interview.”
Korina’s camp emphasized that the Discaya interview aired before the campaign period and that all content passed station management’s approval.
In an interview with pep.ph, Julius Babao, who also featured the Discayas on his YouTube channel, defended his segment as a lifestyle piece. He also denied receiving P10 million for the feature, “Walang katotohanang may 10 million na involved for this interview,” he said.
While both sides stand firm — Mayor Vico with his ethics callout and the broadcasters defending their editorial decisions — the exchange has gotten significant public attention, and questions about the unfinished or faulty flood-control projects remain unanswered.
