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Celebrities and journalists blast Harry Roque for snapping at CNN reporter; Presidential Spokesperson offers ‘peace, finger heart’ sign

Journalists call out Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque for blaming a CNN Philippines reporter for supposedly misquoting his statement about mass testing a day before.

  • GMA Network’s Joseph Morong corrected Roque by reading to him the exact transcript of his statement which was uploaded on the PCOO’s official website. 
  • CNN Philippines released statements saying that Roque owes them and the reporter an apology. 

Celebrities, journalists, and netizens called out Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque for scolding a reporter during a media briefing on May 19. He claimed that her report regarding a statement he made before was inaccurate.

Roque proceeded to cast aspersions on the reporter in a setting where she couldn’t defend herself and he then reprimanded her for something she didn’t write.

Journalists then called out the spokesperson for publicly humiliating CNN Philippines reporter Triciah Terada.

“If he had a problem with her report yesterday, he should call the attention of CNN Philippines immediately AFTER the report was aired,” Danilo Arao tweeted.

Terada replied saying that the incident is not something that should happen to anyone but it is the “price” that comes with their work.

She also clarified that she was not the one that tweeted, published, or aired the said report.

GMA Network reporter Joseph Morong then defended Terada by directly reading a transcript of what Roque said the day before.

Gabbi Garcia then retweeted a tweet of a netizen praising Morong’s action on the incident.

Melissa Luz Lopez also posted a screenshot of the transcript of Roque’s official statement which was uploaded on the Presidential Communications Operations Office’s official website.

Other journalists and celebrities also shared their frustrations regarding Roque’s actions.

https://twitter.com/vance_larena/status/1262685577339527169

https://twitter.com/scrtsjrm/status/1262615801061752832

“Journalists can’t simply sit quietly and watch while a colleague is insulted and attacked at a presscon.”

People also poked fun at the spokesperson’s sudden change of attitude when he was being interviewed by Morong.

CNN Philippines also released a statement clearing Terada’s name and saying that Roque owes the network and the reporter an apology.

They also stated that they stand by the story that they published the day before.

Roque said that the government has not passed the responsibility to the private sector and added that the right term is “expanded target testing” and not “mass testing.”

Just this afternoon, during a live virtual press briefing, Roque offered a “peace” and “finger heart” sign to a CNN Philippines reporter.

Written by J M

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