'Alabang Boys' mess: Reporter refuses to name source of bribery report

MANILA, Philippines - A reporter of a national broadsheet who broke the story on the "Alabang Boys" case on Friday declined to name the source of his news article on the alleged bribery of Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors in the drug case. During the resumption of the three-man independent panel probe into the drug mess, Philippine Star reporter Edu Punay admitted that he had no "material information" on the alleged bribery and relied solely on the statement of his source, whom he described as "reliable." Punay noted that his source agreed to be quoted in the news article on the condition of anonymity. "[I have] no material information that the DOJ was bribed. It was based on a source. I was told by the source that there was an attempt to bribe prosecutors of the DOJ," Punay said. Punay is the journalist who in December 2008 broke the story that alleged that DOJ prosecutors were bribed to come up with a recommendation to dismiss the drug case of affluent drug suspects Richard Broddet, Jorge Joseph, and Joseph Tecson. Panel member Fr. Ranhilio Aquino expressed his concerns about reports quoting anonymous sources, saying that news consumers tend to immediately treat everything they see and hear in the media as facts even if these are mere allegations. Aquino, dean of the Graduate School of Law of San Beda College, said that the claims made in Punay’s report, in the first place, could not be presented as evidence in court because they cannot be verified, and neither can the sources be known. "You are being very assertive about what you present to the public as a matter of fact... You are giving us information that can't be used for any evidentiary purpose whatsoever because it cannot be checked," Aquino told Punay. Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño, Senior State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo, and State Prosecutor John Resado were the prosecutors who handled the drug case. All three denied that the recommendation to dismiss the drug case was drawn up because they were paid off. Meanwhile, Punay’s fellow reporter Mike Frialde who also works for the Philippine Star was next to be subjected under questioning by the three-man panel chaired by retired Court Justice Carolina Griño-Aquino. Frialde wrote a follow-up story to Punay's PDEA article and reached the embroiled DOJ prosecutors for their reaction to the bribe try report. Aside from Punay and Frialde, the independent panel had also subpoenaed the newspaper's columnist Jarius Bondoc and broadcast journalist Ricky Carandang of ABS-CBN. After questioning the two Philippine Star reporters, the panel proceeded to question PDEA officials. The hearing is ongoing as of posting time. During the panel's initial hearing on Thursday, only PDEA Director General Dionisio Santiago, Special Enforcement Services head Maj. Ferdinand Marcelino, and intelligence officer Jigger Juniller were grilled by the panel. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV with reports from Carlo Lorenzo