DOJ impartial in probe of alleged payoffs to media, says Palace aide
Department of Justice building. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang is not in a rush to unmask the unidentified broadcast journalist who was allegedly paid P2 million to stop attacking a state-run company linked to the P10-billion “pork barrel” scam.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte on Saturday deferred to the Department of Justice to disclose the identity of the journalist, that is, if he or she is ever named in any witness’ affidavit.
“It really depends on the affidavit.… If the [journalist’s] name was mentioned, that will be seen by Secretary [Leila] de Lima,” Valte said over State-run dzRB.
Valte said Department of Justice officials would meet with the witness, former National Agribusiness Corp. (Nabcor) official Rhodora Mendoza, and request a copy of her affidavit submitted to the Ombudsman.
Mendoza and her former Nabcor colleague, Vicente Cacal, submitted affidavits to the Ombudsman alleging that TV5 news anchor Erwin Tulfo and GMA 7 radio talk show host Carmelo del Prado Magdurulang had received payoffs passed off as advertising expenses.
Both journalists have denied taking money from Nabcor.
Mendoza also alleged that a third broadcast journalist received P2 million from Nabcor as payoff to stop criticism of the company, but she had no documents to support this claim.
Valte assured the public that the DOJ would be impartial in its investigation of the alleged payoffs to mediamen.
“That’s an assurance that can be given by the Executive, most especially the DOJ,” she said. “Be assured that the DOJ will be impartial here. They will base everything on the testimony as well as documentary evidence that will be discovered in the course of its investigation.”
Mendoza and Cacal had claimed that 83 lawmakers instructed Nabcor to release P1.7 billion from the Priority Development Assistance Fund to NGOs set up by Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged mastermind behind the scam.
They also submitted encashed checks to show that Tulfo and Magdurulang benefited from projects financed by PDAF through Nabcor.
They claimed that on March 10, 2009, a check for P245,535 was issued to Tulfo, drawn from a Nabcor account at the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) branch on Tektite Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
They said three checks for a total of P245,535 were issued to Magdurulang in 2009 and the funds were also drawn from the same Nabcor account at the UCPB Tektite branch.
GMA 7 vowed to thoroughly investigate the charges against Magdurulang and apply sanctions if necessary. TV5, on the other hand, stood by Tulfo’s statement that he had no business dealings with Nabcor, but said it would conduct its own internal inquiry into the matter.
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