ABS-CBN apologizes anew
“OVER THE MYSTERIOUS DISEASE REPORT”
LINGAYEN —Say you made a mistake.
And the giant ABS-CBN network did just that last March 3 but not after the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed a resolution earlier in the day expressing its indignation and dismay over the first public apology issued by the network over the erroneous reporting on a “flesh-eating disease” in Pangasinan aired in its news program Bandila.
The resolution demanded a more “sincere apology” admitting categorically that it committed an error in reporting and sensationalizing a false story.
Vice Governor Jose Ferdinand Calimlim, who also sits as chair of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, said the board acknowledged the second apology aired by the broadcast station in their primetime news program TV Patrol as well as in Bandila in the evening of March 3 as “more sincere”.
“Definitely, we already felt their sincerity this time,” he told newsmen reacting to the network’s second apology. “We needed to see more sincerity action on the part of the station so that Pangasinan can recover from its lost stature on account of the erroneous report,” Calimlim stressed.
During board’s regular session last March 3, the SP approved Provincial Resolution No. 478-2014 expressing their “utmost indignation and anger over the Bandila news program reporting on the alleged “flesh-eating disease” in Pangasinan” and demanding a sincere public apology from the network.
Board Member Alfonso Bince Jr. had described the first apology as “quite mild, tamed, and it did not express our own sentiment, that’s why we are asking for sincere and more honest apology.”
“Ang kanilang apology na ginawa ay base pa doon sa isang kondisyon na iimbestigahan nila ‘yong nangyaring pag-uulat. Ang hinihingi lang natin ay ‘yon pong sana ay aminin nila ‘yong kanilang pagkakamali,” said SP member Antonio Sison, one of the authors of the resolution.
One of the anchors of Bandila, Ces Oriña Drilon, was in the audience gallery during the SP session.
Calimlim said Drilon approached him after the proceedings to discuss the sentiments of both the board and the network.
Despite the February 26 apology, Calimlim said the negative impact of the false news was felt on March 2 in one of the province’s most popular destinations: the Manaoag Church: The churchyard was empty.
PATIENTS
Meanwhile, one of the two patients reported by the TV station as allegedly suffering from the mysterious disease has already checked out from the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital.
Alex, 19, who is from Villasis, already went home after receiving treatment for psoriasis and he can now manage to walk using a walker.
“He can now walk although with a bit difficulty because he had been bed-ridden for a long time. Dr. Anna Mara Teresa de Guzman, provincial health officer gave him a walker to aid him.
The Pangasinan Dermatological Association’s help was also instrumental in helping him recover from their illness.
Still at PPH is Mary Grace, 21, who is suffering from leprosy compounded by anemia and malnutrition.
Dr. Policarpio Manuel, chief of the PPH, said doctors gave Mary Grace blood transfusion and had her lesions in the body cleaned.
They learned that the infection in the woman’s body worsened after her mother consulted a quack doctor who put leaves and oil in the woman’s lesions.
Manuel said they have repeatedly assured the two patients that their illnesses are not contagious.
“Their physical and mental status are okay. No trauma, they have a good outlook now in their life, they’re laughing, unlike before when they were brought here,” Manuel said.
“It’s as if they have new life,” he said.—LVM and Tita Roces
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