Binantaan ni Jes Aznar na isang documentary photographer si RJ Nieto, na kilala bilang ‘Thinking Pinoy’, na kakasuhan niya ito kung hindi iaatras ang pag-atake nito sa kanya at kung hindi rin ito hihingi ng public apology.

Ito ay nag-ugat matapos i-post ni Nieto sa kanyang Facebook page ang screenshot ng isang Instagram video ni Aznar na nasa Marawi City ngayon upang i-cover ang nangyayaring krisis doon.

Ang post ni Nieto ay may caption na “NYtimes/Inq photographer Jes Aznar posts live updates from Marawi, revealing the positions of government snipers to any terrorist with a Smartphone. Tang ina, tanggaling niyo yang idiota na yan dyan!”

Sa isang Facebook post ni Aznar patungkol sa paratang sa kanya ni Nieto, sinabi niya na ang video ay hindi live feed at ito ay kinunan mahigit tatlong linggo na ang nakalipas.

Ayon pa kay Aznar, ang video ay kinunan ilang oras na ang nakalilipas kung kaya wala na sila sa lugar na iyon.

Dagdag pa niya, hindi siya nagtatrabaho sa New York Times at Philippine Daily Inquirer, bagkus siya ay regular contributor ng mga litrato na ginagamit ng press.

Nais ni Aznar na bawiin ni Nieto ang kanyang mga paratang at humingi ng tawad sa publiko. Binantaan pa niya ito na kakasuhan niya si Nieto kung hindi niya ito babawiin.

Ang buong pahayag ni Jes Aznar:

It has come to my attention that there’s this certain RJ Nieto, who is behind the FB page ThinkingPinoy, that is spreading a vile and malicious post against me. The post is a screen grab of my Instagram post in Marawi taken more than three weeks ago, then claiming it as a live feed of a military maneuver. Mr Nieto, while inside the comfort of his home, did not think about looking at the dates of the post but instead erroneously claiming it as happening live.

The scene depicts soldiers exiting from a position which we were holed in after taking enemy sniper fire for hours. Thus, the troops were not there anymore when the post was made. If one would think logically, putting the soldier’s life in danger in this situation would definitely put me in harm’s way as well.

Let me remind the gentleman, that these kinds of attacks to the press are outright dangerous. Especially for us who are covering this event and are actually inside the conflict zone. Let me also remind you that the media, fully aware of the dangers involved in covering such conflicts, are there not to be kibitzers but to do a sworn duty to keep the public informed. No more no less.

I am also not working for the Inquirer, which he claims in his post. I don’t know where he got that. And although my works are published in the New York Times regularly, they are not my employer.

I would advise the gentleman to retract his attacks and make a public apology or face legal repercussions.