No conflict of interest in Dante Ang’s Oust Duterte matrix story

FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo shows the “Oust Duterte” matrix to the members of Malacañang Press Corps on April 22, 2019. (PNA photo by Azer Parrocha)

MANILA — Malacañang on Monday said it does not see a conflict of interest on the decision of Manila Times chairman Dante Ang to publish a story claiming journalists and lawyers’ groups are part of a plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ang, who is also President Rodrigo Duterte’s special envoy for international public relations, has claimed that the ouster plot is a “legitimate story”.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said he sees nothing wrong with the running of the story since he has no control over the paper’s editorial.

“Mukhang wala naman akong makita. Publisher lang naman siya eh. Hindi naman siya nag-aano ng editorial. (I don’t see anything wrong. He’s only a publisher. He’s not involved in the editorial),” Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

On April 22, Panelo bared the same matrix, confirming that the Manila Times, which was first to publish it, beat him to it.

He said the President himself ordered him to release the matrix in a Malacañang press conference but denied that the Office of the President gave Manila Times a copy.

Among the names mentioned in the matrix are members of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), Vera Files, and Rappler.

In a speech in Tuguegarao City on April 16, Duterte said intelligence reports have been fed to him from “foreign” sources about the supposed coordinated media plot to discredit him.

Panelo said the Palace would rather wait for results of the investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to validate the Oust Duterte matrix.

“Let’s wait for the full-blown investigation,” Panelo said.

Meanwhile, Panelo said he will not delve into the conflict between publishers and editors of the Manila Times following the resignation of its managing editor Felipe Salvosa II, who opposed the publication of the story.

“I think, it’s an internal dispute between the publisher and the editor and we will not delve into that. Let them resolve their conflict,” Panelo said.