THIS is in reaction to Manuel L. Quezon III?s column titled ?Cabral?s crackdown.? (Inquirer, 2/1/10)

Forgotten amid the collective condemnation of our actions against ?Ella??expected as it is?is that this blogger is no more than a poseur masquerading as an honest ?citizen journalist.? Her exposé was far from driven by a genuine passion to help her countrymen; it was a planned attack against my reputation and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Consider these:

1. ?Ella,? while posturing that she volunteered at the DSWD warehouse at the height of the relief operations, in fact, never went there. It has already been established that someone else went to volunteer and took the pictures that she uploaded in the blog?her brother. Why did she conceal this?

2. Contrary to Quezon?s assertions that no one accused us of pilfering the relief goods, the blog itself made malicious insinuations that the goods were going to be used in the elections, or would end up being sold in public markets. If that is not a baseless accusation of thievery directed at us, then I can?t imagine what is.

3. The DSWD did extend its best to forestall any sort of legal action by trying to contact the blogger to hear her grievances. However, she did not want to talk to us personally. Quezon said that every accused has the right to face his or her accuser. We subscribe to the same stand. Quezon expressed his apprehension over the alleged abuse of power in our use of ?government resources? to advance our case. Yet these very same investigation and prosecutorial services are available to the public in general.

We would like to state that we do not want this to be construed as an attack against the blogging community in general. We recognize the valuable role that bloggers play in upholding the basic freedoms of our citizens. What we are against is the deliberate spread of lies that, if left unchecked, will allow charlatans and paid hacks to ride on the freedom of speech to destroy the reputation of honest and upright people, whether they be in the government or not.

?DR. ESPERANZA I. CABRAL,

secretary, Department of Health,

Building 1, San Lazaro Compound,

Rizal Avenue, Manila