BINATIKOS ng foreign correspondents sa Pilipinas ang  bribery claims sa mga media ni Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC) head at House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.

Sa statement ng Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), sinabi nito:  “Independent journalists report problems and issues imbued with public interest as they happen and become evident and do not delay the time to press for accountability. We report defeats and victories, failures and triumphs.”

Hindi umano katanggap-tanggap ang akusasyon ni Cayetano na nabayaran sila para magpalabas ng malisyosong mga balita.

“Such sweeping accusations, without a shred of evidence and laced with threats of libel suits, are totally unacceptable and tend to intimidate journalists from reporting irregularities objectively,” pahayag pa ng FOCAP.

Ito ang tugon ng grupo sa akusasyon ni Cayetano na ‘smear campaign’ ang inireport ng ibang miyembro ng media, na ang ilan ay umamin umanong ilang sites ang binayaran para magpakalat ng fake news kaugnay sa SEA Games hosting

Nauna nang binanatan ng National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) si Cayetano at ang PHISGOC dahil sa umano’y “negative” coverage sa SEAG.

“It is bad enough when trolls are let loose upon media reporting on the disastrous preparations… It becomes ridiculously unacceptable when the officials responsible for the disaster resort to bashing media as well, as if the reports on their shortcomings were to blame for the disaster,” ayon sa grupo.  EBG