Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Jonathan Head’s version of his “skillful ambush” by a major blogger

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By Raïssa Robles

Reporters are a very curious lot.

And so it was natural for them to ask fellow journalist Jonathan Head what had happened to set off his encounter with a “major blogger” with over half a million followers on Facebook.

Controversy is nothing new to him. Two months ago, he was hauled to court to stand trial for a defamation suit arising from a story he had written on how foreign retirees lost their retirement homes to scammers. He had faced a possible five months in jail. Fortunately, the charges were withdrawn.

And so he was free to fly to Manila to cover the 50th anniversary of ASEAN without having to worry about any court suit. Little did he know what awaited him here.

I asked Head’s permission to post his version of the events of November 13, 2017. This is what he told fellow journos:

“I bumped into her by accident. I’d gone over to introduce myself to Mocha Uson. When I realized Sass was there I said hello, and introduced myself, because she had commented very critically of my reporting last year. I had hoped to have a constructive conversation. But it wasn’t really possible.”

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“She’s obviously smart, and knew what she was doing. It was a skillful ambush. But a bit intense, all the tears, and Mocha Uson handing her tissues. And then the accusation of me, with my white skin misreporting people with brown skin. Hard to argue with really. I did suggest we continue the discussion elsewhere. Of course at an ASEAN press center, without much happening, it attracted a lot of attention. Much better journalists are not the story really. We just aren’t that important. Our influence is overrated here.”

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“I’m getting lots of hate messages now of course – along with some supporting, although both sides are so screamingly insulting of each other I just feel like asking them to leave me out of it. Amusingly someone has decided that the word ‘poppycock’ is shockingly insulting, so that’s become the favoured term of abuse for me now.”

After having seen what had happened; having read Jonathan Head’s version of events; and having realized that two government officials were present watching the entire thing unfold with one of them (RJ Nieto, aka @Thinking Pinoy even videotaping it), I am forced to conclude that the entire tirade was just that – poppycock.

[Disclosure – BBC Radio sometimes interviews me although I am a minor blogger with no PR firm or political party affiliation.]

Comments

  1. Off Topic:

    Why am I no longer getting email notices of your blog posts?

    This is a great post, as usual, but I only discovered it by chance through it being shared somewhere in social media.

  2. If Jonathan Head is a poppycock, Ssas is ornery defined, a hubris despite his much flaunted master’s degree from a European university. Truly, education does not equate to class or decency.

  3. Could she be part of the Social Media Influencers paid to back Duterte as reported by Freedom House? News item reported by Audrey Morallo Philstar.com) Nov. 14, 2017

  4. Indeed, a cringe worthy act of an ambush from an utterly opprobrious character
    the fruits of whose deceptive ways has obviously gotten into her head to shamelessly demand attention from international media without realizing that it is the good one does to the world and the quality of one’s followers not quantity that matters and tilts the balance towards the news worthiness of a personality or an event.
    After all, it’s BBC’s prerogative whom or what to regard as news worthy by journalistic standards.
    The punchline should hit hard the fame whore in her:
    “Much better journalists are not the story really. We’re just not that important.”
    But then again, she is no journalist just a nobody sans principle who is paid tax payers money to prey on the gullible by churning out false news for political propaganda in Digong’s favor.

  5. Funny how they keep saying Jover uses the victim card and yet now she keeps using the race card. What she did just showed what she truly is. A worn out cheap used clothing with ghetto followers.

  6. I hate to do this and I promise myself not to do it ever again.

    On his behalf (Sassot, ‘He’), I would like to apologize. He doesn’t represent any filipinos. We despise what he did, what he does and his whole being. He’s earned SO MUCH already (financially I mean)…. from our fellow filipinos who work outside the Philippines, and for whatever duterte is paying him for ‘obviously’ unknown services he renders.

    You did nothing wrong Mr. Head. Jover is a victim of their bullying stunts. Now they’re twisting the story and performed this planned act, to draw attention and provoke duterte supporters against Jover and everyone critical of the government.

    The crying, the tissue, the video? Wow! Class act indeed Sass, Mocha and Nieto! We’re so proud of you! 😄😅😂😁😃😆

  9. inggit to the max! Sass should have known better, PAB and his (or her) followers are entirely two different kind of species.

  10. How low has so many Filipinos have gone that we have become the laughing stock of the world. Watching this cringe-worthy ambush is just another embarrassing evidence of the sheer arrogance these people show to foreigners. I am embarrassed by this shameful act.

  11. A group of major A-hole, so-called major bloggers who openly criticizes mainstream media, labelling them as biased; especially if the report or an article will put their principal in a bad taste…but that is just a minor nuisance for the maintream media, regardless of consequence, the media are still reporting what has to be reported.

    What is appaling is for this major asshole to have the tenacity to confront the media, literally scolding a foreign media journo for interviewing their perceived enemy (Jover), or call it competitor if you will.

    Childish and pure vile envy…”galit ako sayo, kasi kinausap mo yung kagalit ko!”

    Arrogance, power trip, feeling entitled that they have the authority over legit journos, overstepping the boundaries, just because they are in power? This behavior is an offshoot of the kind of behavior or culture of the present government. They are actually given the tacit or probably an open approval as the attack dogs or equalizer against any negative report coming form the mainstream media.

    A clear example is the attempt of ignoramus Mocha to request her boss to reclassify Rappler as social media, so it falls under her control. What a follish and dangerous proposition. This is Duterte’s mindset, so is his zombies. May these so-called major bloggers rot in hell.

    • hell has no fury like a woman scorned! jonathan head came, he saw and was flummoxed. sorry po, medyo iba ang paningin ko dyan. methink, mr head had a bit of an ego and did not do well in the encounter. what’s wrong with him apologizing and saying to sass, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings, sass, it was never my intention. instead, mr head allowed himself to be ‘taken over’. as long standing international journalist, mr head should have known what he was letting himself in for and took some semblance of control, diffuse the situation and create good will not by being overly passive, but by being an active player.

      why did mr head wait for mocha to hand a tissue to teary and distressed sass when he could have done it himself? come down his high horse, ika. something else, I can do for you, sass? and hopefully sass will not tell him to go to hell! kindness begets kindness, and confuses the enemy too. gives you even platform. hiyah, sass, baby , you’re looking good! mind turning down the volume a little bit?

      apparently, mr head was so guarded, and failed to seize the big opportunity being played out right in front of him, and thusly miss the chance of getting behind the charade of dds, the diehards of digong, getting their inside story and their dirt too.

      so, mr head was ambush interviewed, not 1st time yata yan for an international journalist of his standing. again, sorry po, but looks to me, mr head wasn’t prepared for eventualities, coming to edgy pinas that was, is, being put through the grinder with ill conceived drug war, the infamous ejks, the war in marawi with govt forces vs terrorists, etc.

      for international journalists coming to pinas, please be prepared for the proverbial mine blasts! iba na ang situwasyon ngayon.

  13. the maggot faggot with those 2 lapdogs of duterte are the official leeches to the Filipinos’ taxes! that faggot’s action speak so much about her character….stupid, arrogant, idiot!

  14. You are a poppycock, to me they tall poppy syndrome. I don’t care what their excuses. No need to that kind of behaviour. Two are government employees. They should know their ethics. As far as I’m concern. No excuse. Mocha should be reprimanded for allowing something like that to happened. Sass had past encounters with BBC. She can write. Put it on writing.

    • if I was bbc’s jonathan head, I would have stopped sass on her track and given her a business card, saying, let’s talk when you’re no longer angry and emotional, and then, left.

      ambush interview cut short. folks, it’s okay not to dignify ambush interview. or, you can turn the table on them.