Andanar says money offered to reporters

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. ALBERT ALCAIN/Presidential Photo

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar on Monday claimed Senate reporters were offered “as much as $1,000” (P50,230) to cover the news conference of a retired policeman who linked President Duterte to extrajudicial killings in Davao when he was mayor of the city.

He also claimed that the disclosures of retired police officer Arthur Lascañas during the news conference were part of a plot to unseat Mr. Duterte.

Speaking in a television interview, Andanar said “stories are circulating” that the “opposition” was bribing Senate reporters “to help spread” Lascañas’ claims “to bring down this administration.”

“We received a report that as much as $1,000 [was] distributed during this press conference. I will not reveal my source, but [a] huge amount of money was supposedly given just to cover [Lascañas’ press conference],” he said.

He did not say, however, if the reporters accepted the money.

Andanar, a former TV5 news reader, said the payoff came from “whoever started this. Whoever was trying to discredit the President, those who are opposing this administration [and] initiated that press conference.”

Asked if he was referring to Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who had accused Mr. Duterte of having hidden illegal wealth, Andanar replied: “I cannot categorically say that it came from Senator Trillanes.”

‘Height of irresponsibility’

Trillanes denied having a hand in the alleged bribery.

“I categorically deny giving $1,000 to reporters who covered the [press conference]. That’s not our style and we regard and respect Senate reporters highly to do that,” Trillanes said in a statement.

“That’s the height of irresponsibility for a Cabinet official to say that publicly. I believe this is just to divert the issue of the President’s complicity in multiple murders as confessed by SPO3 Arthur Lascañas,” he added.

The Senate press corps also issued a statement strongly protesting the “unsubstantiated and irresponsible claims” made by Andanar.

“To our knowledge, no such incident occurred. Such practice is not tolerated among Senate reporters,” the press corps said.

‘Prove it’

“We would like to ask the secretary to prove his allegations, as such statements placed our credibility and our respective media entities under a cloud of doubt,” it said.

“Otherwise, we demand a public apology from Secretary Andanar for spreading fake news—truly unbecoming of someone who, just a few months ago, came from the media industry,” it added.

In a statement earlier on Monday, Andanar claimed that Lascañas’ comments were “part of a protracted political drama aimed to destroy the President and to topple his administration.”

He said the Commission on Human Rights, Office of the Ombudsman and Senate committee on justice had already cleared Mr. Duterte of complicity in summary killings in Davao City.

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