A blind item made on Wednesday by ABS-CBN newsreader Korina Sanchez, wife of Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, has become a PR nightmare for the couple as the criticism of CNN reporter Anderson Cooper's report from Tacloban has created a more powerful backlash on the Roxas couple than super typhoon Haiyan's (Yolanda's) wrath.

The issue has gone beyond social media where ordinary Filipinos took the side of Mr Cooper and lashed at Ms Sanchez for doubting the facts aired by the CNN reporter, while she is safely commenting from the comforts of her studio.

Now, mainsteam media has taken note of the clash which both Mr Cooper and Ms Sanchez initially ignored.

Inquirer.net described it as a virtual catfight. The newspaper, which was also critical of the alleged special treatment given to CNN and foreign media over local journalists, noted that Ms Sanchez's co-anchors in TV Patrol, Ted Failon and Noli de Castro, share Mr Cooper's observation on the government's slow response to the humanitarian crisis.

Significantly, 95 per cent of the comments in social and mainstream media are favourable to the CNN reporter.

Filipino singer and Journey vocalist Arnel Pineda described Mr Cooper as "the brave one who went there to see it first hand." In turn, Mr Cooper paid tribute to the strength and continued courage of Filipinos, and even noted that despite the tragic circumstances, they continue to laugh and smile.

CNN also has reported the furor created by Ms Sanchez in this video:

YouTube/CNN

Significantly, Ms Sanchez, except for a one-night report from Ormoc City on Thursday, has disappeared from the public eye and was missing from the Friday telecast of TV Patrol. ABS-CBN and her co-anchors have also pretended as if nothing happened and would not even mention the reason for Ms Sanchez's absence nor talk about the incident.

The "disappearing act" is reminiscent of what happened in 2010 when Mr Roxas was unexpectedly defeated in the vice presidential race and the couple hid from the public eye for a few months to lick the pain of wounds caused by the electoral debacle.

Ms Sanchez appears to be repeating the same pattern of behaviour now, although she is still capable of pulling a few surprises in the coming days. Meanwhile, Mr Roxas is also under criticism for his short temper in dealing with media interviews, particularly his interview with Andrew Stevens, also from CNN.

YouTube/Viral Tevee

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