Solons in pork scam report renew calls for right-of-reply

Lawmakers, who figured in a newspaper article as among those that benefited from Janet Lim Napoles' pork barrel scam, have renewed calls for the passage of a right-of-reply measure supposedly to protect their reputation from what they call false reports in the media.

 

Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela and Batangas Rep. Sonny Collantes on Tuesday indicated the need for a righ-of-reply provision in a news conference, wherein they also denied receiving fat kickbacks from Napoles in exchange for channeling pork barrel allocations to Napoles' fake foundations.

 

Citing whistleblower Benhur Luy's hard disk files, the Philippine Daily Inquirer has reported that 150 lawmakers had transactions with the alleged mastermind of the pork barrel scam between 2002 and 2012.  Aggabao and Collantes were among those identified in the report.

 

“I saw the need for it now [after the Inquirer report came out]. Kailangan ng mechanism for us to clear our names,” Aggabao said.

 

Collantes said the newspaper didn't publish his denial of his alleged involvement in the multi-billion-peso scam.

 

“Tinext nila  [Inquirer] ako for my  reaction at ang  sabi ko naman  sa aking  reaction ay wala  nga akong  transactions [kay Napoles]. Wala akong  PDAF na  napapunta [sa kanyang NGOs]. Naglabas ng  denials ang  ibang congressmen but  the paper did not accord me  with  the courtesy of printing  my  response to their  query,” Collantes said.

As of this posting, GMA News Online is still trying to get the side of the newspaper.

 

Lawmakers in the previous Congress moved for the inclusion of a right-of-reply measure in the Freedom of Information Bill.  The provision is meant to legally bind news organizations to provide equal space and airtime to persons that have been placed in a bad light in news reports.

 

‘Malicious’ 

 

Aggabao, who opposed the right-of-reply provision in the FOI bill in the 15th Congress, said many government officials “now have a need [for] it” in light of what he called “unsubstantiated” reports that have come out against members of Congress.

 

Collantes branded as “malicious” his inclusion in the Inquirer’s report. He said he was portrayed as someone who transacted with Napoles despite the absence of a special allotment release order as a documentary proof.

 

A SARO is the document that authorizes the release by a government agency of a lawmaker's pork barrel allocation.

 

“I am appalled that  responsible newspaper  would  publish  things  that  have not  been verified that could  have a  direct effect of this  people, alam ho ninyo hindi lang  naman  napulot ang  aming  mga  reputasyon sa kanto,” Collantes said.

 

'Exercise fairness'

 

Aggabao and Collantes urged the media to exercise fairness in reporting about the scam, saying their families have been affected by reports linking them to the scam.

 

The Batangas lawmaker said his wife had asked him to quit politics after the Inquirer report came out because his reputation was being damaged by the accusations.

 

“But it’s good I was able to convince her to continue supporting me in politics. She knows I did not do anything wrong,” Collantes said

 

The Inquirer’s report was based on the digital files found in whistleblower Benhur Luy’s hard disk drive, which his family and former lawyer, Levito Baligod gave the paper in April 2013.

 

Luy’s new lawyer, Raymond Joseph Ian Bautista, has said in news reports that their camp cannot authenticate the supposed contents of the hard disk drive. — NB, GMA News