MANILA – Felipe Salvosa II submitted his resignation as managing editor of The Manila Times following the publication of the allegedly journalist-backed plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.
Salvosa resigned on Thursday after Manila Times chairman emeritus and columnist Dante Ang fumed over his social media post about the controversial investigative report published in the broadsheet.
“I didn’t agree with the publication of the matrix story,” said Salvosa, head of the journalism program of the University of Santo Tomas. “I want to be able to teach and still look at my students straight in the eye.”
“In UST journalism, we always tell students that our number one obligation is to tell the truth. I felt sincerely that I needed to uphold that principle now more than ever,” he added.
The Manila Times on Monday published an article about an ongoing ouster plot against the President written by Ang, who serves as Duterte’s special envoy for international public relations.
Among those behind the ouster plot were journalists, news-related firms and lawyers.
The matrix was connected to “Bikoy,” who said Duterte’s family and friends were linked to the illegal drug trade.
Malacañang supported the article as Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the matrix was based on intelligence information gathered by a foreign country.
Salvosa was not the first to be sacked from The Manila Times as former senator Francisco “Kit” Tatad was removed as columnist in March following his Feb. 11 story of Duterte’s kidney transplant in China. /PN
