Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday accused Abante of publishing a “deliberately spliced and misleading” video of her speech, saying the news organization’s social media post took her remarks out of context and created a false impression.

In a two-page statement dated July 30, Duterte called the attention of Abante’s editorial and social media departments over a July 29 post carrying the headline, “I CAN HIRE A GUNMAN FOR ₱5,000.”

According to the Vice President, the video extracted and isolated a single statement from her speech delivered outside the International Criminal Court (ICC) detention facility in The Hague without including the explanation that immediately followed.

“In the published material, accompanied by the caption, ‘I CAN HIRE A GUNMAN FOR ₱5,000,’ Abante extracted and isolated a single statement from my speech,” Duterte said. She argued that the circulating post was “a clear example of a statement being taken out of context and presented in a misleading manner to generate public outrage and online engagement at the expense of accuracy and responsible journalism.”

Duterte maintained that the headline created “a false and misleading impression” that was inconsistent with the substance, intent, and context of her speech.The Vice President explained that she used a hypothetical example involving her husband allegedly having a mistress to illustrate what she described as the severity of gun violence in the Philippines, saying that a gunman could supposedly be hired for as little as ₱5,000.

She said the point of the example was to underscore concerns about the ease of accessing violence, not to advocate or threaten criminal acts. She urged Abante to uphold “the highest standards of responsible journalism” by ensuring that its reporting is fair, contextual and accurate, and by refraining from publishing materials that, through selective editing or sensational presentation, could mislead the public.

“The Filipino people deserve journalism that informs truthfully, reports responsibly, and presents facts in their proper context. Public discourse is strengthened not by sensationalism, but by integrity, fairness, and respect for the truth,” Duterte said.

The controversy stemmed from Duterte’s remarks during a “Free Duterte Now” rally in The Hague, where she discussed gun violence in the Philippines using the hypothetical scenario. Abante’s social media post highlighted the line “I CAN HIRE A GUNMAN FOR ₱5,000,” prompting widespread online discussion before the Vice President issued her clarification and criticism of the publication.