By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
Shocking revelations about alleged criminal acts of a Pangasinan-based correspondent of a national daily has been exposed by National Press Club (NPC) President Paul M. Gutierrez and Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) Executive Director Joel Sy Egco.
They both condemned the newspaperman, whose initials are “JA,” for allegedly having cooked up false stories of rape and kidnapping that led to the arrest and prosecution of Councilor Arkie Yulde of Lopez, Quezon last year.
Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon Raul Lambino also accused the reporter of fabricating stories that he had raped his household help and that his wife, Mayor Marilyn Lambino of Mangaldan, Pangasinan, of physically abusing and maltreating their maids.
Gutierrez has already expelled this JA from the NPC over acts that constitute grave violations of the Journalism Code of Ethics. Egco said the national newspaper has already fired the news correspondent and that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is already building its case against the mediaman.
Firing Line sources claim that JA has long been linked to nefarious activities and has gotten away with feeding false stories, often detrimental to public officials and his friends who belong to legitimate news organizations.
It is sad that this sorry excuse for a reporter has given his newspaper and the NPC a bad name and even dragged others into taking part in his dark media operation by peddling false stories to his colleagues in the north.
There are many local journalists in Pangasinan whose integrity cannot be bought. Some of them tell me that JA has been emboldened to do such horrible things because a powerful political figure in the province is coddling him. Perhaps, when the NBI and the PTFoMS are done investigating, all these would crop up.
Kudos to the NPC leadership and Egco’s resolve to hold erring media practitioners accountable for such acts that blemish the image of media as the fourth estate.
* * *
SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at https://www.thephilbiznews.com