Back allegation with solid evidence

Solita Monsod’s piece in her Jan. 20, 2018, column against Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is not only unfair, but also malicious (“Rappler and two other issues”).

Malice comes in the backhanded tactic she utilized against Alvarez by questioning the source of the funding for his birthday celebration in Tagum City. Without any evidence, she had to employ a rhetorical question to justify her allegation that the celebration was funded by people’s taxes.

That is ludicrous and untrue. Unless Monsod can prove that public interest is prejudiced by the birthday celebration of Speaker Alvarez, she has no business maligning him.

Applying the same tactic Monsod utilized against Alvarez, we wonder if she is part of the Yellow Army’s campaign against the top officials of the Duterte administration.

Why is she doing it? The probable answer is that she
is the wife of Christian Monsod, who was among those picked by the late Corazon Aquino to draft the 1987 Constitution. The very Constitution that the Duterte administration wants to overhaul for a shift to a federal system, threatening to erase her husband’s legacy.

Or, maybe she and her husband are threatened that their perceived influence in national affairs be further diminished and eventually pushed to oblivion if we shift to a federal system of government?

Incidentally, Speaker Alvarez is leading the efforts in the House of Representatives to change the Charter toward federalism.

There is no dispute about Monsod’s right to comment on the conduct of public officials, in the exercise of press freedom and freedom of expression. But the exercise of such right must be coupled with the responsibility to ensure any allegation against any person is backed with solid evidence.

Otherwise, she is no different from those purveyors of fake news she swears to abhor.

ELIZABETH URSUA, [email protected]