Going Straight to the Source

Usually, when I need to find out something, I try as much as possible to go to the source of the information to make sure that what I know is accurate. For example, when I submitted my pre-enrollment requirements to UP Law, one of the items listed was a "Certificate of Graduation." The College Secretary's office was kind enough to inform me that if my transcript already contained my date of graduation, then the certificate wasn't necessary. Problem: the copy I gave them was sealed, and I couldn't check it.

So, what else do I do but troop on over the the AdMU Registrar's Office?

The lady at the Registrar's office was kind enough to even look for a sample transcript (of course, she had to hide the name portion, that stuff's supposed to be on a need-to-know basis only) to show me that my records did, indeed, include my date of graduation.

High fives all around.

~ ~ ~

What happens, then, if the source of information cannot be verified to begin with?

For example, take a look at the newest attack on Noynoy's credibility: a forged document, with the Ateneo de Manila Dept. of Psychology letterhead and the signature of Fr. Tito Caluag, claiming that Noynoy had suffered from clinical depression following a beark-up from his ex-girlfriend.

ABS-CBN was the first to break the news story, citing two officers of the Nacionalista Party who had independently (meaning, they had done so separately, and apparently without prior knowledge of what each other was doing) furnished the document. Ateneo de Manila and Fr. Caluag have both since debunked the document as a patent forgery. The statement from Ateneo is here, while Fr. Tito's statement is here.

The Nacionalista Party, of course, denies ever having released the document and has demanded that ABS-CBN divulge the names of its sources. The ABS-CBN, for its part, has opted to protect the anonymity of its sources and has declined to name them.

*Quick Aside: I find it odd that ABS-CBN claims that it must protect its news sources, as no law provides that they can do so. The closest applicable law, the Sotto Law or Republic Act No. 53, only covers print media, and not broadcast media. Although it has not come down to an actual legal challenge, once ABS-CBN is ordered by legal authorities to divulge the names, then they are obliged to do so, for lack of any law protecting their alleged sources.

And yet, even while denying that the document came from the NP, Villar is now using it as a new avenue of attack. How convenient, isn't it, that the document they deny came from them, and whose source the ABS-CBN News crew chooses not to divulge, is now the basis for this new attack strategy?

This new attack avenue may yet backfire on the NP anew. It's only a matter of time before the ABC-CBN News Center will be forced to reveal who supplied them with the fake document. And when that time comes, guess who's going to get egg in their face - again.