Misleading

We write in reference to the article entitled “DOTC Execs Tagged in $30-M Shakedown,” published in your newspaper on July 19, 2013. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is taking exception to the unfair and misleading manner in which this article was written.

The Philippine STAR is a well-reputed publication which the public has come to rely on for credible, objective and unbiased reportage. While the DOTC has held your newspaper in high esteem, we must express our utter disappointment in the manner by which the abovementioned article made certain insinuations which were either inaccurate or misleading.

First, the article falsely claimed that the Inekon Group has been blacklisted by the DOTC in connection with our efforts to increase the capacity of the Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) system.

As we have previously announced, there is no truth to this claim at all. In fact, no such blacklisting order of the Inekon Group exists. A simple verification with the DOTC, the Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB), or the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) could have prevented this inaccuracy from being published. No prior effort was made, however, to double check the facts with the DOTC.

This erroneous statement, along with the sweeping generalization which alleged that the ‘Czechs are fuming,’ appear to have been written recklessly and without due regard for the facts.

Second, the article was written in such a way that ordinary readers would be misled into believing that four high-level DOTC officials were actually named by the Czech Ambassador as having been involved in the alleged extortion attempt.

To be specific, the article named Undersecretaries Jose Perpetuo M. Lotilla, Rene K. Limcaoco, Catherine Jennifer P. Gonzales, and Assistant Secretary Jaime Raphael C. Feliciano, without categorically stating that they were being accused by the Czech Ambassador as ever having been part of the alleged incident.

In truth, there has been no indication whatsoever that the Czech Ambassador even alluded to these officials as having made or having been part of the alleged extortion attempt.

The article, however, appears to have been maliciously crafted in such a way that two clearly independent and unrelated pargraphs were written successively in order to lead the reader into an erroneous conclusion. To explain this point, we quote the two paragraphs of the article as follows:

“The amount was allegedly whittled down to $2.5 million. When the Czechs still didn’t give in, their project proposal, first endorsed to the DOTC three years ago by the Czech government was scuttled and the company blacklisted.

“The DOTC was headed at the time by Manuel Roxas II, and the department officials who met with the Czechs were his recruits. They included Jose Perpetuo “Juju” Lotilla, Rene “Timmy” Limcaoco, Catherine Gonzales, and Jaime “Jim” Feliciano. All of them are still at the DOTC. Gonzales, who came in as an assistant secretary, has since been promoted to undersecretary.”

You will note that subsequent reports in other publications have erroneously mentioned the four officials as having been named by the Czech Ambassador, seemingly based on your article.

We express our strongest objections to the irresponsible crafting of the article, especially since it has resulted in an unwarranted tarnishing of the reputations of innocent and well-meaning individuals, all of whom have answered the call to faithfully serve in government under a leadership well-known for its firm stand against all forms of corruption.

As it is in the interest of the general public — whom we both serve – that we maintain the highest integrity in our work at all times, we expect your publication to rectify the unwarranted effects of the unreasonable inclusion of the said officials in the article in question, especially since it is apparent that none of them were claimed by the Czech Ambassador to have been involved in any extortion attempt at all.

We trust that this will merit your preferential attention in the interest of truth, fairness and journalistic integrity.