De Lima’s Bikini Photo: Foul

Senator Leila de Lima after her speech at the August 14, 2016 rally at the Lapu-Lapu monument at the Luneta against the burial of the late president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Photo by CMFR/Luis Adrian Hidalgo

JEERS TO The Manila Times for publishing on its front page a scantily clad photo of Senator Leila de Lima, which illustrated a story about the alleged links of her former driver to drug syndicates inside the New Bilibid Prison when de Lima was still  Justice secretary.

On Aug. 22, The Times published the photo of the senator in a bikini alongside the article “Duterte wiretaps link de Lima’s driver to drug lords, ‘Love affair led to corruption’”.

The photo had nothing to do with the article, which mostly quoted President Rodrigo Duterte’s allegations that de Lima has links to the drug trade and her supposed affair with her driver. The Times‘ publication of the photo placed de Lima in the center of personal attacks.  In The Times Facebook page, for example, some netizens disparaged the senator for wearing a bikini around her bodyguards and called her names.

Not only was the choice of the photograph in bad taste.  Far from contributing to public enlightenment, it raised the question of whether the newspaper used that particular photo precisely to provoke the derogatory comments so common among social media users who call those they don’t agree with names, rather than engaging them in debate.

Twitter users @kimpatria and @ohwellmawel and Facebook users Elisha Manas, Lloyd Palomo Cabasag, Seymour Sanchez and Sheila Mae Tabamo tagged CMFR regarding the photo.

Thoughts for today pic.twitter.com/5P6jwDVbEZ

— Llanesca T. Panti (@llanescajourno) August 22, 2016

One response to “De Lima’s Bikini Photo: Foul”

1. Nino says:

   August 26, 2016 at 8:13 am

   Panti should be more concerned with explaining why she opt to work for an unethical paper.

   Reply