Thread by @mikenavallo

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT:

Some bloggers have been sharing 2 screenshots of 2 different reports we wrote about US sanctions on jailers of PH Sen. Leila de Lima.

They claim the reports contradict each other.

Absolutely NOT.

In the first article in December, the law that US President Donald Trump signed was an appropriations bill which incorporates by reference a Senate committee report directing the US State Department to implement Magnitsky sanctions on De Lima jailers.

news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/23/19/…

The first report was already confirmed by:
-PH Presidential Spox Salvador Panelo citing PH Ambassador to the US Babe Romualdez
-Tim Rieser, foreign policy aide of US Sen. Dick Durbin
-Senators Dick Durbin and Patrick Leahy

The second article is about a US Senate resolution which the US Senate recently passed - a totally different measure which calls on Trump to also implement Magnitsky sanctions on De Lima jailers and also calls for an end to harassment of Maria Ressa.

news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/09/20/…

The two reports refer to two different measures. A law is different from a resolution. It is misleading to claim that the second one contradicts the first one because the two articles do not refer to the same thing (although they want to impose the same sanctions.)

A blogger attempts to refute this by showing a screenshot with no names from the PH in the list of those sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act.

But passage of a law, as we reported, is one thing. Implementing it, like coming up with a list, is another. We will surely report it.

In any case, we reported that for the US appropriations law, it is the US State Department who will determine the scope of its implementation. Tim Rieser says it will be hard for US State Dept to ignore congressional directive.

We take our reporting seriously and unlike blogging, our stories go through several layers of editors. I personally feel compelled to post this clarification so the public may know and not be misled by selective screenshots without understanding the context.

As respected investigative journalist Sheila Coronel said, it is not enough to be correct in our stories. We have to REPEAT, REPEAT, REPEAT the truth on various social media to counter the falsities.