{"id":95079,"date":"2017-03-22T19:45:29","date_gmt":"2017-03-22T23:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=95079"},"modified":"2017-03-22T19:45:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-22T23:45:29","slug":"cynical-new-york-times-report-a-well-paid-hack-job-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/03\/22\/cynical-new-york-times-report-a-well-paid-hack-job-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Cynical’ New York Times report a ‘well-paid hack job’ \u2013Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cOne<\/a>
\u201cOne would expect more from The New York Times. Their article, \u2018Becoming Duterte: The Making of a Philippine Strongman,\u2019 sounds like a well-paid hack job for well-heeled clients with shady motives,\u201d the Palace official said. (Photo: Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines)\/ Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u2013Malaca\u00f1ang on Wednesday assailed the New York Times (NYT) article portraying President Rodrigo Duterte as a \u2018thug\u2019 and a \u2018brutal strongman\u2019 and said that the op-ed piece is nothing more than a \u2018well-paid hack job\u2019 out to embarrass the President and intimidate him over his independent foreign policy.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella slammed the NYT article as a \u201ccynical and unfair narration of President Duterte\u2019s rise to power in the context of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne would expect more from The New York Times. Their article, \u2018Becoming Duterte: The Making of a Philippine Strongman,\u2019 sounds like a well-paid hack job for well-heeled clients with shady motives,\u201d the Palace official said.<\/p>\n

In the said NYT article published March 21, Richard Paddock described Duterte as a man who\u201d relishes the image of killer-savior.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Duterte and his friends have long cultivated legends of his sadistic exploits, like throwing a drug lord from a helicopter and forcing a tourist who violated a smoking ban to eat his cigarette butt at gunpoint. It is a thuggish image that Mr. Duterte embraces,\u201d the NYT correspondent wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether Mr. Duterte has done what he says \u2013the killings he claims to have carried out are impossible to verify \u2013he has realized his gory vision in national policy. First as a mayor, now as president of the Philippines, he has encouraged the police and vigilantes to kill thousands of people with impunity,\u201d Paddock said.<\/p>\n

Abella pointed out however that the NYT report \u201cdeliberately fails to mention the many initiatives the President made when he was Davao City mayor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDavao City, under the leadership of President Duterte as mayor, is hailed as one of the safest cities in the world where residents follow an anti-smoking and a midnight alcohol ban,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, Mr. Duterte ensured that Davao City Hall is a responsive government known for its efficient delivery of government services,\u201d Abella added.<\/p>\n

He also enumerated some of the notable programs initiated by Duterte in his home city.<\/p>\n

While Davao City mayor, Duterte established a one-stop shop for business permits; a Central Communication and Emergency Response Center, or Central 911, which links residents who need assistance with emergency resources of the government; provided a Lingap Para sa Mahirap health financial assistance; and free primary and secondary education in public institutions as well as access to college education for underprivileged but deserving students among others.<\/p>\n

The Palace official also took exception over the NYT report vilifying Duterte\u2019s \u201ccoarse manner\u201d and \u201coutrageous comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Duterte does not engage in western liberal niceties to promote his agenda, to rebuild a nation with compromised internal structures,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a rough-hewn outsider who vowed to reduce poverty; restore trust in the government by addressing crime, corruption and illegal drugs; and reinforce peace agreements with ethnic Moros who experienced historic injustice, and the CPP\/NPA\/NDF who have been fighting for social justice for decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Presidential Spokesperson \u2013who was erroneously named in the article as Duterte\u2019s Press Secretary \u2013said that overall, the article looked more like a subtle jibe to intimidate the President over his independent foreign policy.<\/p>\n

Since taking office, Duterte has veered away from the United States, the Philippines\u2019 historical ally, and pursued warmer relations with China and Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne gets the feeling NYT is not interested in presenting the whole truth, only that with which they can bully those who attempt an independent foreign policy,\u201d Abella said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u2013Malaca\u00f1ang on Wednesday assailed the New York Times (NYT) article portraying President Rodrigo Duterte as a \u2018thug\u2019 and a \u2018brutal …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":95080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[13103,13135],"class_list":["post-95079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-new-york-times","tag-president-rodrigo-duterte","mauthors-cielito-m-reganit","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}