Reaction to June 6 Postscript

Dear Mr. Pascual,

I would like to react to your article “Another Lopez kuryente” in Philippine STAR dated June 6, 2010.

I sympathize with you that you have been maliciously and falsely accused of being a midnight appointee of Pres. GMA. But to hint that the Lopez family is behind this is uncalled for. Ricky Carandang already admitted it was his mistake. Moreover, the ABS-CBN news team is independent of the Lopezes. In fact, sometimes even well-known ABS-CBN personnel are critical of Lopez companies, like for instance during the controversial Meralco refund in 2003. This only shows that media personnel express their own opinions without the consent of the Lopezes. That said, the management of ABS-CBN, including CEO Gabby Lopez, has a responsibility to ensure the veracity and fairness of its news and opinions.

I also take exception to the insinuation that the Lopezes lack patriotism, and desire to destroy Pres. GMA and the country. These are simply untrue and unfair. Historically, the Lopezes choose businesses imbued with public service. They built ABS-CBN, since the 1950s, into a media giant. They set up INAEC, the first airline in Southeast Asia and precursor of PAL. They bought Meralco from its American owner. They went into power generation, water distribution, telecom-munications, oil refining, oil pipeline, and toll roads. These are businesses that government usually gets involved in because they are critical to nation building.

As for the Lopezes desire to destroy Pres. GMA, it seems it’s the other way around. Max Soliven once wrote about the government’s squeeze play in Meralco in 2003. And the hostile takeover attempt of Meralco by Winston Garcia could not have happened without the blessing of Malacañang. The misimpression that the Lopezes are out to destroy Pres. GMA is perhaps due to the many news about corruption in government carried by ABS-CBN. But all unbiased media companies carry these stories, including Philippine STAR.