Jam Sisante, a reporter for GMA News, was threatened for reporting on Philippine Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s trip to Singapore to disprove accusations that he was holding ill-gotten wealth in various bank accounts.
“So my friend and colleague Jam Sisante covered Senator Trillanes in Singapore and reported the news about the non-existence of his supposed accounts in a bank there. Shortly after her report aired over [the news show] 24 Oras, she received a nasty message. How much was she bribed, they asked? They told her to be careful or they might find her inside of a sack,” fellow GMA reporter Ivan Mayrina said on his Facebook account, and re-posted by other media personalities.
Sisante has been a reporter for GMA News for over a decade.
“If the report doesn’t match what you believe, you accuse her of being corrupt? And corruption justified murder? People, let’s get this straight. Enough of shooting the messenger. This is our job to cover and report. And if we report something that doesn’t match with your beliefs, it doesn’t make us paid hacks and should not make us targets of your murderous rage,” Mayrina said.
President Rodrigo Duterte had said last year that corrupt journalists were “legitimate targets of assassination.” He’s also targeted media outlets critical of his administration’s policies in his sppeches like the Philippine Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN News and Rappler.
Reader Interactions