AN administration lawmaker on Tuesday backed off from his motion to cite The Standard reporter Christine Herrera in contempt for refusing to divulge her sources for her reports on allegations that money extorted from suspected Chinese crime lord Wang Bo had gone to bribing lawmakers to approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
During the resumption of the hearing conducted by the House committee on good government and public accountability, Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. withdrew his contempt motion after Herrera stated that he was not among the lawmakers who alleged received bribes in exchange for the swift passage of the contentious bill.
Barzaga asked Herrera if he was among the House members who admitted to her that they received money in relation to the BBL’s passage.
“You texted the Speaker [Feliciano Belmonte, Jr.] and the Speaker said the allegation is not accurate. You also texted other members of the House and they all denied the alleged bribery. You did not text me about this issue. Would it be safe to say I was not included among those [House sources] who admitted before you that I received money?” Barzaga asked.
Herrera replied: “I’ve already heard you saying all over the radio that you would resign if it’s been proven that you accepted any amount. There’s no need to [interview you].”
Barzaga then withdrew his motion.
“I have defended my position. I will no longer pursue my motion to cite her in contempt,” Barzaga said.
The panel, headed by Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, resumed its hearing to dig deeper into the allegations of bribery that first appeared in a series of articles in The Standard that quoted sources as saying P440 million in bribe money taken from Wang had been allocated to pay off lawmakers to secure the swift passage of the BBL.
Aside from Barzaga, other members of the panel failed to convince Herrera to reveal her sources.
Butil party-list Rep. Agapito Guanlao asked Herrera if she would have other secondary sources for her stories aside from interviewing at least five House members whom she talked to regarding the alleged bribery.
Herrera said the CCTV recordings would have spoken for itself if these were not overwritten.
Herrera also maintained she stood by her series of articles, noting that her sources were “very credible.”
Rodriguez raised concern that such allegations might weaken democracy and appealed to the members of the media to uphold democracy by practicing responsible journalism.
