Gina Lopez vents ire on ‘tabloidish’ Business World
MANILA–After her encounter with a Business World reporter, Environment secretary Gina Lopez tagged the newspaper “tabloidish”.
“It is tabloidish of Business World top uta private conversation between two individuals and regard it as news. And on top of that for the editor- in- chief to put scathing remarks without acknowledging that the behavior of his reporter is partly to blame,” Lopez told GMA News Online.
“Yes I lost my cool and I had no intention to talk negatively about her to the world. Her bosses are pushing the issue and this is tabloidish and petty of them to say the least,” she added.
She was referring to Janina Lim, who was asking questions about a recent order requiring a trust fund for suspended mining firms.
The said order, which Lopez issued last Jan. 30, is a directive to suspended mining firms to put up P2 million as a trust fund to cover every hectare of land disturbed “to further mitigate the adverse impacts of the mining operations to the environment and to the affected communities.”
In the same statement, Lopez explained that she met the reporter in a stairway.
“This morning I was rushing to an appointment and was already very late. She ( Lim) ambushed me in the stairway and I got really irritated,” she said.
“It didn’t help that I already don’t like her because she has been on my beat for several months. And has consistently portrayed an insensitivity and lack of compassion for issues I hold dear. She is a fresh graduate from school and it was just she and me – and she taped it!” she added.
A recording of her profanity-laced tirade against the reporter was posted on InterAksyon.com.
“You know, you’re just a f—ing employee, why don’t you have a heart for the poor?” Lopez said.
The Business World has issued a statement and expressed support for the reporter.
“Janina is a professional. We stand by her dignity and idealism. She ‘has a heart’ for news, facts, and the truth,” it said.
It also slammed Lopez for her words and actions, which were “unbecoming of a public official.”