Hi Angie,
Thanks for sending me a copy of the Oct 23 column of Jojo Robles in Manila Standard Today entitled “Napoles’ mentor?”
It is quite unfortunate that Jojo Robles did not verify his information before writing that column. For the record, I was not the Head of the Presidential Management Staff during the incumbency of President Cory Aquino. Ergo, all his insinuations about my part in thinking up a “Napoles scheme” are at best imaginary. If he were a responsible columnist, he would correct that misinformation ASAP.
Lenny de Jesus
disclosure: lenny and i have been friends since we were kids and were classmates in UP Psych.
Asa pa. It seems to me he’s more like an attack canine rather than a responsible columnist thus his barking at his target victim before verifying his reason for barking is understandable.
Haha, wow I feel kinda guilty now for linking it here, Ms Angela. Maybe, you should send that to Jojo Robles too so he could reply.
The name Lenny de Jesus rings a bell doesn’t it. Wasn’t she the one referred to as Malacañang Dragon Lady, the PMS Secretary of Erap? Where was she before?
i dislike this tendency by columnists to write all sorts of accusations without proof — “Drilon and De Jesus hit upon a plan that would, whether or not Napoles knew it, would become the template for the conversion of funding for “soft” government projects into cash [for the campaign]. Funding for fictitious seminars, training programs and conventions, among other hard-to-trace expenditures, was quickly released, with a corresponding paper trail of government money spent using Cory’s large—and largely unaudited —discretionary funds, or presidential pork, established.”
how does he know they were turned into campaign funds? as far as he knows this is 100% CONJECTURE on his part. but he’s presenting it as fact.
its sad, that this sort of reasoning is all around us.
in robles’ defense, the accusation isnt really that she was the PMS chief, but that she was part of a scheme to turn govt funds into campaign funds.
she should address this larger point.
Right you are. They should use “allegedly” more frequently.
my bad. lenny de jesus was PMS head during the ramos and erap administrations. during the first aquino administration, her first stint in government, she served various positions: asec for plans and programs of DOLE, the office of the president (as deputy director-general of the kabisig people’s movement), presidential assistant for policy and planning, and, finally, undersecretary of DILG.
that said, my source (whom i contacted again after i was told about this blog post) stands by his story, as do i. thank you and good day.
and here it is: he said, she said journalism.
jojo, how can media enlighten us about the truth when all we have is he said, she said?
further, how can your source stand by his “story” when its got factual inaccuracies? shouldnt that story be amended?
gabby d: this is why i talked to my source again, to find out if i should amend my story. i admit that he was wrong about de jesus’ positions in the cory govt. my own mistake was passing on this bit of information i got from my source as correct, when it was not. in my personal hierarchy of sources, this person is usually very reliable and i chalked up his error as an anomaly. but that anomaly doesn’t, in my view, detract from the truth of the rest of his story. so i cannot make the “ergo” that de jesus made in her “call out” to me. and yes, i do intend to put in an erratum in some future column, pointing out (as i have here) that i still stand by my source and the rest of it. thanks again.
nahhhh
You and Kit keep on writing creative fiction, just like what Enrile wrote last year for his “memoirs”….
You should start your stories with “once upon a time…”
If you and Kit’s sources were credible, they wouldn’t have chosen you guys in the first place! So many questions re you two.
They would have chosen someone like Winnie Monsod or Randy David who have kept their credibility all these years, even if they take unpopular stands.
Zinggggggggggggg . . .
jojo thats what i dont understand. IF its true that he (the source) was wrong about something basic and crucial as that, how can he be right in his larger (more damaging) accusations?
you seem to hold him in high regard, and the job therefore is to communicate WHY you hold him in higher esteem.
the usual way people do this (establish the reliability of a a source) is when there is documentary evidence, or several sources saying the same thing. I hope this is what you did, and if it was, you should write about this.
not a lot of journalists are clear about their methods, so reporting becomes he said/she said. i implore you to stop doing this.
“Graduates of media-related courses are often clueless about news gathering and operations,” observes editor-in-chief Jojo Robles of Manila Standard Today in his column (“School daze,” July 17, 2006).
Got that from here:
http://www.cmfr-phil.org/2006/12/27/reporters-and-editors-take-a-good-look-at-journalism-schools-are-they-good-enough/
malakas ang amats nitong jojo robles. ano bang tsino-chongkee ng mamang ito? kuwentong kutsero ipinamamaraling totoo. tsk tsk.
Definitely not herb. Baka bato kaya mabaho ang ulo niya.
Jojo Robles, during the 2010 presidential election, fabricated that letter from Tomcat who was supposedly a classmate of PNoy.
Andrew Lim, with all due respect, Robles and Tatad write destructive fiction not creative fiction.
Jojo “Tomcat” Robles featured by a non-relative Raissa Robles…
http://raissarobles.com/2010/04/29/is-senator-noynoy-aquino-really-abnoyl-heres-what-his-psychiatrist-schoolmate-shared-with-me-about-noynoys-mental-state/