PCIJ: Those behind ‘matrix’ report may have committed crime, violated freedom

The people who came up with a "matrix" accusing several groups and individuals of a plot to oust President Rodrigo Duterte may have committed a crime and violated fundamental freedoms, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said.

"The Manila Times story admits to a crime that may have been committed, and fundamental freedoms that may have been violated. It offers tacit admission that these 'experts,' apparently working with the Office of the President, had invaded the privacy of the emails and correspondence of journalists now being singled out," PCIJ executive director Malou Mangahas said in a statement.

Mangahas also emphasized that the PCIJ did not receive any email from Vera Files president Ellen Tordesillas about "Ang Totoong Narcolist," a series of videos claiming that the Duterte family has links to illegal drugs.

It was stated in the report that Tordesillas was the "nexus and distributor" of materials from "Bikoy," the person in the videos making the allegations who claimed to be a former member of a drug syndicate.

"PCIJ has neither posted nor distributed any stories or commentaries on the 'narcolist video' of 'Bikoy.' The video was posted on YouTube from where the news media and citizens got to watch it," Mangahas said.

"That is where the so-called 'cybercrime experts' of the unnamed 'highly placed source in the Office of the President' should look instead," she added.

Mangahas also noted that the matrix had linked at least five individuals to the PCIJ who are no longer employed at the media firm.

She further stated that as a non-stock, not-for-profit independent media organization, the PCIJ has been funded in different ways, including by revenues from the sale of publications and video, contributions from PCIJ patrons, interest income from an endowment fund from the Ford Foundation, and grants for projects from both local and foreign sources.

"Foreign funding is not equivalent to foreign ownership of for-profit media. Truth be told, government agencies are the biggest recipients of foreign funding from the United States, Japan, China, Australia, and other multilateral and bilateral agencies," Mangahas said.

She added that Rigoberto Tiglao, who writes for The Manila Times, was a co-founder and the first treasurer of the PCIJ, and that he had helped raise seed money for the PCIJ’s operations initially from the Asia Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

She also said PCIJ seminars since 2014 have been attended by hundreds of reporters and editors from various media organizations, including about a dozen from the Manila Times.

Hilarious

Many of the individuals named in the report as being part of the supposed "ouster plot" have denied any involvement in any plot to remove the President.

VERA Files' Tordesillas called it "hilarious" and said, "[I]f this is the kind of intelligence report that the President gets and bases his actions and policies on, the country is in big trouble."

Bayan Muna's Neri Colmenares and Representative Carlos Zarate called it "absurd" and "ridiculous."

"Parang silang mga sirang plaka na paulit-ulit ng kasinungalingan," said Zarate.

News site Rappler said that the matrix was an example of "how not to write an investigative report," while the National Union of People's Lawyers called it "absolutely false," ludicrous and baseless.

Malacañang has backed the matrix report, with presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo saying that it should be believed because Duterte had validated the information for the report. 

Panelo also said that he was actually the one who was supposed to release the "matrix," but that the Manila Times had beaten him to it. — Dona Magsino/BM, GMA News