CL cop chief to probe ‘white paper’ vs scribes

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Chief Superintendent Alejandro Lapinid, Central Luzon police director, said yesterday he will investigate a "white paper" being circulated in this province listing a number of local and Metro Manila-based journalists as alleged recipients of jueteng payola ranging from P2,500 to P3,000 every 15th and end of each month.

Some members of the Pampanga Press Club (PPC), however, suspect that some regional policemen could be behind the white paper apparently to dissuade newsmen from further writing about the jueteng controversy.

A number of civic and political leaders in this province have received copies of the white paper by mail.

Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin said he was shown a copy of the white paper by Robledo Sanchez, a correspondent of People Files Tonight.

The white paper identified two correspondents of a daily tabloid as the alleged bagmen of jueteng payola. It suggested eight local newsmen not in the list as well as the Camp Olivas information office for "corroborative information."

Jab Tolentino, a correspondent of GMA-7 who was among the eight named, denied being aware of the list. "It’s the first time for me to hear about that list," he told The STAR.

Lapinid said he, too, was not aware of the white paper. "I will support any move of the local media to have this investigated. But I like to assure them that it could not have come from Camp Olivas," he said.

The white paper listed 31 local reporters, including those who recently have written about the jueteng controversy for national newspapers, as alleged payola recipients.

It also listed five Metro Manila-based reporters and alleged donations of P20,000 each to the National Press Club and the Pampanga Press Club last March.

Meanwhile, the PPC denounced yesterday "the propensity of some local government officials to grant interviews and then deny what they said later on."

Bong Lacson, a PPC director, said some local officials "are prone to issuing ‘gospel statement’ interviews which they readily convert into hogwash if the concomitant stories turn out (to be) troublesome for them."

"It has turned out that the victims in such cases recently are the most credible journalists in Central Luzon," he said.

At least two Pampanga mayors were reported to have denied statements attributed to them on the jueteng controversy.

PPC president Ashley Manabat said such denials "have put the credibility of the local media in a bad light."