Mike Enriquez, Luchi Cruz Valdes deny pork scam links

Veteran broadcasters Mike Enriquez and Luchi Cruz Valdes denied that they received gifts from alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, with the latter slamming “reckless” reportage of the issue.

In separate statements Monday, Enriquez and Valdes belied a Philippine Daily Inquirer report listing mediamen who pork scam whistleblower Benhur Luy said received “payouts” from Napoles’ company.

“I deny and denounce any imputation or suggestion that I benefited in any way from the PDAF funds facilitated by Mr. Benhur Luy,” read a media statement from Valdes, who is now news chief of TV5.

A GMA 7 statement meanwhile called the claims “uncorroborated and bare,” adding that its senior anchor Enriquez “denied receiving any gift of any sort from JLN Inc. or from any person related to JLN Inc.”

The Inquirer on Sunday claimed Enriquez, Valdes, as well as ABS-CBN top anchor Korina Sanchez were among the mediamen whose names “appeared in disbursement files” kept by Luy, a key witness in the scam.

In the case of Enriquez and Sanchez, the Inquirer said “payouts” were allegedly coursed through a certain Mon Arroyo. Arroyo has since executed an affidavit denying his participation in the transactions.

GMA said it is not taking the report seriously as Enriquez “had always adhered to the high level of professionalism required by GMA and it stands by him in the face of these baseless imputations.”

Sanchez has earlier denied the Inquirer report, which she called “an unsubstantiated lie.” She claimed the she only met Napoles and her husband after having been assigned to interview them in 2013.

Valdes, for her part said: “over the course of more than three decades as a journalist, I have never received any gift from any party in exchange for any kind of consideration in my news coverage.”

Citing Luy files, the Inquirer reported that Valdes charged for “representation expense,” as a member of “the Probe Team,” of whom she had been part. The payment was also supposedly coursed through Arroyo.

“For the record, the Philippine Daily Inquirer should be aware that in the period of 2004 to 2008… I was no longer part of [The Probe Team]. I was already six years out of Probe as of 2004, to be exact,” Valdes said.

The veteran journalist further slammed the Inquirer for its “wanton, liberal, and matter-of-fact treatment and use of the word ‘payout,’” which she said “leads readers to a perilous leap in the narrative.”

The reportage “recklessly disregards the full context of what Mr. Luy claims but cannot prove, nor even claim to know. At best, Mr. Luy can only attest to his dealings with Mr. Arroyo,” Valdes said.

She thus urged the Inquirer and the media to “not only be aggressive and tireless in ferreting out facts, but to also be circumspect in every purported piece of information or data exposed, volunteered, or surrendered by our various sources.”

“Media is allowed and empowered with that mandate to clarify, rather than confuse, matters for the public, and at the very least to separate speculation from fact,” Valdes said.