‘Respect press rights on Gang of 5 probe’

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. urged members of the House ethics committee over the weekend to respect press freedom.

De Venecia, a former journalist, made the appeal before leaving for the United States to join the official party of President Arroyo.

"They should respect the law and the rulings of the Supreme Court on press freedom. They should know that journalists cannot be forced to reveal their sources," he said.

He said ethics committee chairman Rep. Antonio Abaya (Lakas, Isabela) was correct in ruling that media practitioners have the right under the law to protect their sources.

The panel is conducting an inquiry into a group of congressmen known as the Gang of 5 that was reportedly engaged in extortion activities. Supposed gang members have denied the reports.

Last Wednesday, it summoned to its hearing Tita Valderama of the People’s Journal and Jess Diaz of The STAR. The two, who had written stories about the Gang of 5, were required to appear again in the next hearing tomorrow.

Valderama had written that Representatives Jacinto Paras of Negros Oriental, Aniceto Saludo of Southern Leyte, Rolex Suplico of Iloilo, Eduardo Veloso of Leyte and Prospero Pichay Jr. of Surigao del Sur had allegedly extorted millions from Smart and Globe.

The Journal reporter quoted two unnamed House leaders as the sources of her information.

The five congressmen have denied the reports. Globe and Smart have similarly denied that they bribed any congressman.

During last week’s hearing, and in the wake of the two cellular operators’ denials, Saludo tried to force Valderama to reveal the sources of her story.

Valderama refused, invoking her right under the law to protect her sources.

Saludo then moved for the ethics committee to detain the Journal reporter until she identifies her sources.

The Leyte congressman cited the case of lawyer-columnist Emil Jurado, who some years ago was disbarred and fined P1,000 by the Supreme Court for refusing to reveal where he got his information that there was graft and corruption in the high tribunal.

Some committee members, however, said Jurado was sanctioned as a lawyer and not as a journalist.

The committee could not resolve the Saludo motion even after it held a closed-door meeting. It decided to tackle it again tomorrow.