Front page ‘love affair’

JEERS TO the Philippine Daily Inquirer for prioritizing a dating scandal over pressing issues.

In its July 2 issue, the lifestyle article, “Europe buzz: Nobel Prize winning author to leave wife of 50 years for PH socialite” which focused on the “blooming romance” between Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa and  “Spain-based Filipino socialite” Isabel Preysler and how the former supposedly divorced his wife for Preysler. landed on top of the front page, consuming almost half of the issues above-the-fold portion.

Citing “sketchy reports” the report said that “Preysler and Vargas Llosa, 79, hooked up around April when the writer began travelling to Spain.”

Disclosing  details on the life of Preysler, the article also mentioned the names and number of offsprings she had with each of her past husbands. The report also included pictures of Preysler with each of them.

The report described Preysler as someone who “under Filipino custom, should still be mourning” because of her latest husband’s death last September 2014.

The report also said that the Spanish media was “hounding Preysler all over Spain over the affair” and was “said to be sympathetic to Patricia (Vargas Llosa’s wife), who has often been described as his (Vargas Llosa) “collaborator” and “indispensable” partner.”

On the following day, the Inquirer again published on top of the front page an article that said that Vargas Llosa has confirmed his relationship with Preysler.  This time, however, the article titled, “Nobel Prize winner confirms romance with Pinoy socialite” was not labeled  part of lifestyle despite its being on the lifestyle section in Inquirer.net.

The report included Vargas Llosa’s interview with a weekly celebrity magazine, Hola (¡Hola!), in which he confirms his relationship with Preysler.

According to the report, Vargas Llosa declined to give more details about his private life but the article pried into and discussed the photos taken by Hola.

The report went on to retell stories about how Preysler supposedly “caught the attention of photographers during the unveiling of Jose Rizal’s monument in Madrid” and how Preysler was “already a popular beauty” back in high school.

The Philippine Star (“Nobel winner Vargas Llosa confirms affair with Preysler,” p. A20), Rappler (“Mario Vargas Llosa seeing PH socialite Isabel Preysler — report“), GMA News Online (“Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa confirms romance with Pinay socialite Isabel Preysler“) and abs-cbnNEWS.com (“Nobel winner Llosa reportedly dating PH socialite“) also published articles about the relationship of Vargas Llosa and Preysler, but unlike the Inquirer, placed the article in the lifestyle section where it belonged.