Clips of past interviews clips of ANC news anchor Karmina Constantino resurfaced on social media after she refuted a 2022 presidential candidate’s insinuations of being supposedly paid by a rival bet.
The broadcast journalist on Tuesday interviewed physician Jose Montemayor on ANC’s “In Focus” where she asked him about his unfounded comments about another presidential bet, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso, during the presidential debates hosted by CNN Philippines.
At the debates, Montemayor confronted Domagoso, more commonly known as Moreno, about his position about requiring the return of excess campaign cash donations to the donors after the elections.
Moreno had been the only one who did not raise his hand when they were asked if they were in favor of returning it.
Montemayor then asked the city chief about his allegedly well-known receipt of $15 million from American billionaire Bill Gates.
Moreno denied the allegations and said that receiving campaign funds from foreigners is not allowed by law.
In February 2020, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $319,147 to Moreno’s city to be used for procuring “safe, off-grid toilet products and utility services in low-income communities.”
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Constantino brought up the topic in the interview and mentioned that Montemayor has changed his stance about the issue following fact checks of his comments.
“You’re not saying that anymore. Now, you’re saying it’s all about the sanitation project. So which one really was it?” she asked.
“Dr. Montemayor, you said that it was all over the papers but now, you’re telling us that now your sources have told you about this, so which one should we believe?” Constantino added.
To this, Montemayor answered: “If you will just research, especially you are in the media. You should have known better. Unless Isko Moreno paid the ANC and ABS-CBN.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not gonna let that pass, Dr. Montemayor. We are not in the business of getting paid. I am personally insulted by that insinuation. We can go on with this interview, we can leave this topic aside and move on. But let me tell you, this is not an insinuation that I will take lightly,” the news anchor said.
“This company is not in the business of getting paid. This journalist that you’re talking to right now has never been, or ever will be, paid by anyone to ask or not ask any questions. Let’s move on,” Constantino added.
#ANCInFocus anchor Karmina Constantino answers accusation of Presidential candidate Dr. Jose "Joey" Montemayor Jr. ANC is getting payoffs from Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso. #Halalan2022 pic.twitter.com/pye0203kUs
— ABS-CBN News Channel (@ANCALERTS) March 1, 2022
The moment went viral on Twitter and the news anchor received praises and expressions of support.
Past interviews
Others also recalled how Constantino has handled interviews with other personalities for years.
A Twitter user reshared a video of the news anchor talking to former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo in 2021 about the “ouster matrix” that had included athlete Hidilyn Diaz.
He previously alleged that she was part of a scheme to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte.
“You may have unwittingly injured a person… in this matrix (which) included questionable details, untruths, falsities. So why not even apologize for that?” Constantino said.
At that time, officials were congratulating Diaz for bagging the country’s first gold medal in history at Tokyo Olympics 2020.
ALSO READ: Congratulating Hidilyn Diaz: Officials asked to apologize to her, too
“Teka muna, you’re putting certain assumptions that are, hindi naman tama,” Panelo answered in the interview.
“Hindi ba ganoon din ‘yung matrix mo?” Constantino pointedly asked.
Another clip showed the news anchor referencing the controversial “18 hours a day” video of Sen. Imee Marcos where she was seen mocking people working long hours.
The video was seen as a allusion to presidential bet Vice President Leni Robredo who has admitted to working long hours.
Constantino spoke with lawyer Vic Rodriguez, presidential bet Ferdinand Marcos Jr‘s spokesperson, about their camp’s practice of turning down media interviews due to campaign engagements.
“I can almost hear the other side saying, ‘Attorney Rodriguez, maybe you should consider working 18 hour days,'” she said to him.
Karmina Constantino is really good at putting men in their places. pic.twitter.com/QQPkQUMJDE
— 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲💗🌸🎀 (@krizzy_kalerqui) March 1, 2022
The video featuring some of Constantino’s interviews—including the one with Montemayor—has amassed a whopping number of 26,000 likes, over 6,400 retweets and more than 1,600 quote tweets so far.
