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To whom it may concern at PDI,
By now, you have most likely received a torrent of emails regarding the
article written by Mrs. Salterio. By now you have also, no doubt, been
contacted by members of Art Bell and Premier Radio's legal team. I am writing
to state, for the record, that there is not, nor has there ever been any
validity to the email hoax letter passed around through the Filipino
community, nor has Mr. Bell ever evidenced any form of what could be remotely
considered racist behavior. The basic common sense inherent in most people
should have prevented this whole matter from going any further than the
initial email, but alas, we find ourselves in the midst of a very serious
incident caused by possibly unscrupulous, and definitely incompetent
journalism on the part of Mrs. Salterio. Mr. Bell has received hundreds of
death threats, some serious enough to force a delay in his return to radio,
due to this slander. This matter has disrupted his life, caused him no end of
personal grief, slandered his good name, caused him to lose time at work and
other remuneration from various other activities such as advertisements, and
has put him in a very real position of possible grievous bodily harm to him
or a member of his family.
There is but one honorable recourse left to the editors of PDI, and that is a
bold print, front page retraction of all statements made by Mrs. Salterio and
a public apology to Mr. Bell and his family. Anything less will be
unsatisfactory in the eyes of the millions of listeners Mr. Bell has, as well
as to the legal team you will face when this matter goes to court. You are,
to put it mildly, in a very sticky situation of your own creation, both
through Mrs. Salterio's unprofessional and shoddy journalism, and through the
failure of the PDI editors to catch this before it hit the presses. It is now
up to you to get yourself out of this situation by doing what is right and
honorable by apologizing and retracting the false statements in full public
view.
Sincerely,
Breandán Warren-Maxwell
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