Korina Sanchez' producers defend Discaya feature, deny payment for interview
MANILA, Philippines — Korina Sanchez' team has denied Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto's remarks suggesting their feature on construction magnates Sarah and Curlee Discaya was a paid placement, insisting the interviews were done due to the couple's rise to public prominence.
In a statement signed by executive producers Ferdie Dugay and Catherine Torres of "Rated Korina" and "Korina Interviews," the team said their shows “don’t do puff or vanity pieces” and that they choose who to interview based on the public's interest in the guests.
“There is no such thing as a P10 million placement for an interview. This is simply not true,” the producers said. “Malicious insinuations posted on Facebook, and which publicly besmirches the reputation of our shows or Ms. Sanchez, clearly constitute cyber libel.”
Sotto questions media ethics
Sotto had questioned why prominent journalists would accept large payments to interview the Discayas.
The Pasig City mayor did not specifically name the broadcasters, but his Facebook post included screengrabs of the shows of Sanchez and broadcaster Julius Babao.
"Before accepting offers to interview contractors entering politics, didn't these well-known journalists think, 'Wait, why is this person willing to give P10 million* just to be interviewed by me?'" Sotto wrote on Thursday, August 21 in mixed English and Filipino.
Sotto's post also included the disclaimer that the P10 million figure was not an exact figure. He did not elaborate.
"(*not an exact sigure pero alam nyo na)," the Pasig City mayor wrote.
While such arrangements may not be illegal, Sotto said they should be considered “shameful” and contrary to the spirit of journalistic ethics.
"They rose to national prominence as broadcast journalists/news personalities; they bank on their reputation and credibility… and in this kind of practice, it is also their reputation and credibility that they are lending to the corrupt in exchange for money," Sotto said in mixed English and Filipino.
Two statements, one deleted
An earlier version of the Sanchez camp's statement, which was later deleted, had acknowledged that some features are paid, likening them to advertisements handled by the network.
Specifically, they said:
When this interview was conducted it was well before campaign period, aired in November 2024 and January 2025. Yes, Mayor Sotto, there are payments for certain businesses such as that of the Discayas, products, personalities, companies or politicians much like payments made for advertisements — and these go to the network with an official receipt issued to the client.
The revised statement removed this section. It instead noted that all content aired “meets the strict standards of the airing stations and is approved by the station management.”
One "Korina Interviews" episode, uploaded by Net25 on YouTube in January 2025, included a house tour with Sarah Discaya, where she also spoke about her planned projects and priorities if elected Pasig mayor.
The video was posted more than two months before the March 28 start of the campaign period for local candidates.
Sotto eventually defeated Discaya in a landslide victory that delivered the re-electionist his third and final term.
Discaya’s husband Curlee previously said Sarah was “provoked” to enter the Pasig mayoral race after Sotto revealed that their company was being investigated for alleged fraud, misrepresentation, contract anomalies, and the use of substandard materials.
The Nerve, in a report published April on Rappler, bared that a coordinated network of inauthentic accounts on social media was pushing content in support of Discaya while targeting Sotto with negative campaigning.
'We don't do puff pieces'
The show's producers decried Sotto's suggestion that their Discaya feature was a form of promotion.
"We don't do 'hit' pieces, so no bashing, criticizing, or slandering other personalities or businesses. Third, and by the same token, we don't do 'puff' or 'vanity' pieces; subjects simply tell their life story," their statement read.
They said the Discayas were interviewed because they were drawing public attention, noting they had previously interviewed Sotto's relatives including Senator Tito Sotto and Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski.
“In the case of the Sara and Curlee Discaya interview, pinagusapan sila. Their sudden prominence in the public eye makes for public interest. We do not presume our interviewees as evil nor as angels," the statement read.
"Their rags-to-riches life story is their story to tell. It was aired walang dagdag at walang bawas,” it added.
The producers revealed they had repeatedly approached Sotto for interviews but he "had always declined requests."
They also noted that the Discayas cannot use the interview for other purposes because the material remains the property of the production company and the network.
"Finally, all content aired is transparent and meets the strict standards of the airing stations and is approved by the station management," the producers said.
Sotto stressed that his criticism was not meant to create personal conflict but to highlight how corruption is a "systemic" issue in the country.
“Corruption is systemic... it permeates into every sector of society, not just government,” he said.
In a Facebook comment tacked onto his post, Sotto added that he was not out to "make new enemies" but that he still felt the need to speak up.
While he won the last election, Sotto said: "[If] they did this to others, they might not have survived."
Continued controversies. The Discayas have come under renewed scrutiny over their ties to two construction firms identified among the government’s top contractors for flood control projects, which have cornered a substantial share of multi-billion-peso contracts in recent years.
The two are Alpha & Omega Gen. Contractor and Development Corp. and St. Timothy Construction Corp., both of which were named among the five firms that carried out projects in almost every region by an audit report bared by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
— with reports by Dominique Nicole Flores and Jean Mangaluz
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