Recent statements from the Palace do little to add to the credibility of a recent expose linking journalists and lawyers to a supposed plot to oust the President.
The diagram—called a “matrix” to lend it some credence—was first published by the Manila Times, which suggested, without offering any evidence, that journalists from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Vera Files and Rappler as well as lawyers from the National Union of People's Lawyers would plant fake news, “manipulate public emotion, touch base with the leftist organization, enlist the support of the police and the military, then go for the ‘kill’.”
On the same day, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the diagram had come from the President, and that people should believe it for that very reason.
“The source of that is from the Office of the President, from the President himself,” Panelo said.
“I think [it’s reliable] considering he is the President. He has so many sources, so that’s validated,” he continued. “And since it’s from the President, you should believe it.”
On Thursday, however, the Palace official seemed less certain of the provenance of the diagram he discussed, saying “someone” he did not recognize sent it to him in a text message.
“He (Duterte) did not give me anything. He wasn’t the one who gave it to me; it’s just that someone sent me the matrix,” the official said.
“He (Duterte) asked me to discuss it in the briefing and then somebody sent me a matrix,” he added, saying he “reasonably assumed” that the diagram that was sent to him was the one that the President initially talked about.
On Friday, Panelo returned to the same issue, denying he had contradicted his own statements.
Panelo, also the President’s chief legal counsel, said “once and for all” that the source of the matrix is the President, who called him with “the instruction to touch and discuss it” during the April 22 briefing.
Characteristically, he blamed members of the press for a misunderstanding he created.
Worse still, the Palace spokesman said there was no need to substantiate the allegations against the journalists and lawyers named in the expose.
“Those named in the matrix demand proof of their participation in the ouster plot. Such is totally unnecessary. The matrix shows that there is an ouster plot. It is just a plot, a plan, an idea. The same is not actionable in court, it being just a conspiracy,” he said in a statement.
The suggestion, of course, is ludicrous.
Given the gravity of the accusation and the fact that the diagram identifies members of a so-called plot to overthrow the government, it is an absolute necessity that the Palace substantiate its allegations. Otherwise, the government would have free rein to smear anybody's reputation without a shred of evidence.
The suggestion, too, that we should all accept the veracity of this diagram simply because it came from the President is even more ridiculous—and unworthy of any thinking man or woman.