Misquoting a press release

JEERS TO The Manila Times for erroneously quoting the Supreme Court Public Information Office (SC PIO) in a report about the early retirement of Supreme Court Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr.

On March 14, The Manila Times published an article titled, “Villarama says no Palace pressure to retire early” which badly quoted and misstated a SC PIO press release. The story first appeared on the newspaper’s online platform on May 13.

In his social media accounts, SC PIO Chief Theodore Te said that the first and the second paragraphs of the story published in both the print and online platforms of The Manila Times were ‘false’ and ‘misleading.’

The first paragraph of the news item quoted the SC PIO as saying that Justice Villarma will vacate his post ahead of his official retirement. According to Te, the SC PIO did not release such a statement. Te posted the exact SC PIO press release sent to Justice beat reporters that states:

The Honorable Associate Justice Martin S. Villarama, Jr. has authorized the release of the following statement to refute and belie the news item that appeared in The Manila Times on May 13, 2014 alluding to his being pressured to retire early by the Office of the President.

“The alleged palace pressure on me to retire early is absolutely not true. I have no contact whatsoever with anybody in the Palace. If I do so retire early, the Palace has absolutely nothing to do with it. Manila, 13 May 2014.”

The second paragraph of the Times report said Villarama’s early retirement would give President Benigno Aquino III the opportunity to appoint another justice in the Higher Court.

The SC PIO wanted an immediate correction and appropriate action regarding the errors in The Manila Times report.

As of this writing, The Manila Times had yet to respond.