(UPDATED – 1:51 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines – The Manila Times senior reporter Jomar Canlas on Monday denied “intimating” to lawyer Lorenzo Gadon — the complainant in the impeachment case against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno — that his source of information, which Gadon used to bolster his allegations against the chief magistrate, was Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita De Castro.
During the continuation of the House Committee on Justice’s hearing on the impeachment case, Canlas also denied that De Castro was his source in his story titled “Justice Blasts Sereno over TRO Mess,” which Gadon made part of his complaint.
In the same hearing, Gadon commented on Canlas’ statements, saying, “I cannot really say that he did not disclose it to me.”
Gadon added that he could not remember who gave him what information because “there are a lot of people who are giving me information during those times.”
He said he could not remember whether it was indeed Canlas who gave him the information, but added that Canlas might have “intimated” to him the information.
During the panel hearing last Wednesday, Nov. 22, it was discussed that Gadon had claimed that Sereno allegedly “falsified” a temporary restraining order (TRO) after De Castro had recommended its issuance in relation to the case of the Coalition of Associations of Senior Citizens in the Philippines v. COMELEC (G.R. No. 206844-45).
De Castro supposedly recommended the issuance of a TRO and sent a draft to Sereno’s office, but the final version from Sereno was different from the original one.
Gadon on Wednesday said it was Canlas who had given him the “facts” about the incident, and that he also talked to some Supreme Court employees about it.
He added that he had “investigated” it as well, and found “authentic records,” and learned that De Castro also confirmed the incident “to some other person.”
Canlas: I only discussed my stories with Gadon, but did not disclose to him my info sources
During the hearing on Monday, Canlas only admitted that he met with Gadon for the first and last time in March and discussed with the lawyer the stories he had written about the chief justices, including the ones titled, “Psychiatrists who tested Sereno fired”, “Sereno in hot water over fake resolution”, and “Justice blasts Sereno over TRO mess”.
Canlas stressed that he only narrated to Gadon the basis of his story, but never disclosed to him any of his sources.
Asked if he stood by his story titled “Justice blasts Sereno over TRO mess,” wherein he reported that the chief magistrate supposedly “endured a harsh tongue-lashing from… De Castro” due to the “tampered” TRO, and cited a separate Manila Times story where “Sereno admitted that she tinkered with de Castro’s draft ruling,” Canlas said he did.
Canlas’ article “Justice blasts Sereno over TRO mess” also notes that The Manila Times had gotten “hold of a copy of Sereno’s letter to De Castro, wherein the chief justice allegedly admitted that she had deliberately changed the recommendation made by the latter who was the designated ponente of the TRO” or the justice assigned by the court to write its ruling.
The lawmakers then asked Canlas to produce the letter, but he said he did not turn it over to The Manila Times, and could no longer find it in his files, which he obtained in 2013.
Nevertheless, Canlas said he believed there was an “irregularity committed.”
He added that two documents were involved in the TRO issue: the original recommended TRO by De Castro, and the TRO that Sereno crafted later on.
Last Wednesday, De Castro issued a statement to reporters, saying, “I have never released to Jomar Canlas any information, report, or document regarding the work of the Court.”
On Monday, Canlas said that in his 25 years in the industry, he had never revealed the sources of his stories to anyone, but stressed that they were “reliable and well-placed”.
Canlas has been covering the Department of Justice, the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan, the Ombudsman, and the Supreme Court in the last 13 years.
