THE House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises chaired by Parañaque City Rep. Gus Tambunting on Tuesday cited in contempt Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) program anchor Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celis for his repeated refusal to identify his source who provided him erroneous information on the travel expenses of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The panel also cited in contempt Mr. Celis’ co-anchor in “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” Dr. Lorraine Badoy-Partosa after not being forthright about their supposed income from co-producing their show.
Both anchors will be detained at the House premises until the adoption of the panel’s committee report of its inquiry in the plenary. Rep. Tambunting directed House Sergeant-at-Arms PMGen. Napoleon Taas (Ret.) to enforce the committee’s decisions.
Committee Vice Chairman and Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel moved to cite Mr. Celis in contempt after refusing to name his source for his report that Speaker Romualdez allegedly spent P1.8 billion in travel expenses, even in an executive session as proposed by Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco. Asked by Rep. Tambunting if an executive session is an option to the SMNI anchor, Mr. Celis replied he will refuse it because it may create a negative precedent on the protection of one’s source.
“It is very clear that Mr. Celis does not want to answer the question to reveal the source whether in this inquiry or in an executive session,” Rep. Pimentel said. He said Section 11 (e) of the House Rules on the power to contempt, provides that a person’s refusal to answer any question in a relevant inquiry is a ground for contempt. “Actually Mr. Chair, Mr. Celis has already violated two provisions of Section 11, the first one acting in a disrespectful manner, and the second one, which is more important, is refusal to answer the question in a very relevant inquiry.”
Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr., also citing Sec. 11 of the House Rules, moved to cite Ms. Partosa in contempt after committee members found her answers to their questions inconsistent with House records of SMNI income and salaries for its anchors.
Upon questioning, Ms. Partosa claimed their show only has a few advertisers, which she is not very much familiar with. Rep. Tambunting countered that the advertisers’ names was easy to remember since there were only a few of them. When she eventually named the advertisers, the anchors’ counsel Atty. Mark Tolentino clarified that the show has no advertisers at present.
Rep. Fernandez presented an annual financial report that SMNI submitted to Congress, showing that SMNI’s revenue came from its radio stations and none from the show of Ms. Partosa and Mr. Celis. “These people are lying. Why? Dito sa breakdown ng revenue nila, lumalabas po na ung revenue ninyo galing lang po sa radio stations ninyo. Walang revenue na lumalabas na naggagaling doon sa show ninyo. I think you are lying. Dito walang nakalagay na revenue ninyo,” Rep. Fernandez said.
Before adjourning, the committee adopted House Resolution 1499 authored by PBA Party-list Rep. Margarita “Atty. Migs” Nograles, as amended and subject to style, urging the National Telecommunications Commission to suspend the operations of Swara Sug Media Corporation operating under the business name Sonshine Media Network International, for violating the terms and conditions of its franchise under RA 11422.
In the Committee hearing last week, Mr. Celis apologized over his erroneous report about the travel expenses of Speaker Romualdez, disclosing that his source is an employee from the Senate. He nonetheless invoked Republic Act 53 or the Sotto Law when pressed by Rep. Suarez and Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. to name his source. House Secretary-General Reginald Velasco reported before the panel that the expenses of the Office of the Speaker for foreign travels from January to October 2023, including the staff of the Office of the Speaker, amounted to P4.347 million only. The expenses for all the congressmen and the secretariat on official trips totaled P35.207 million only. Overall, the amount expended is only P39.605 million, he said. Finance Department Deputy Secretary General Dante Roberto Maling confirmed and verified SecGen Velasco’s report.
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