Raps against Masbate Gov. Kho already dismissed, says lawyer

Dear Editor,

On 28 April 2024, Daily Tribune published an article about our client, Governor Antonio Kho titled “Masbate gov, 11 others, sued over ‘ghost’ projects.”

The story contains inaccurate information regarding the status of the supposed complaint against our client before the Ombudsman where your article mentioned that:

“Masbate Governor Antonio Kho is facing a corruption complaint before the Ombudsman in connection with the alleged anomalous road projects worth over P234.6 million that turned out to be ‘ghost’ or non-existent.”

The rest of the article goes on to narrate the details of the supposed complaint filed on 5 January. It alludes that the complaint is currently pending before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Your article did not draw a complete picture of this story. First, the article inaccurately lumped together several complaints into a single complaint to fit the narrative of a possible case under the plunder law, citing the averment of the complainant, Ruben Fuentes, as follows:

“Fuentes averred that the amount involved is ‘clearly anomalous, repugnant to conscience, and inherently incredible and is certainly more than the threshold of the plunder law.’”

Second, it failed to mention that the said complaint/s have either been dismissed or referred for further evaluation.

https://tribune.net.ph/2024/04/27/masbate-gov-11-others-sued-over-ghost-projects?fbclid=IwZX h0 b%2 0g last accessed 2 May 2024.

Please note that in several notices from 5 December 2023 to 14 February 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman has already notified the complainant of the DISMISSAL of five of his complaints against Gov. Kho, et al.

More importantly, last 14 March 2024, no less than the complainant himself, executed an Affidavit of Desistance, which he filed with the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, about the 15 complaints against Gov. Kho, et al.

Considering the Ombudsman’s dismissal of five out of the 15 complaints, which are all similar, Mr. Fuentes admitted in his Affidavit that indeed, these complaints were prematurely filed and that he relied on incomplete information when he filed all the 15 graft raps.

He likewise manifested that he is no longer interested in pursuing the remaining 10 complaints and apologized to Gov. Kho, et al., for filing the baseless and malicious cases.

These facts are easily verifiable and could have been timely discovered through basic investigation and research which should have been done before publishing the article.

Simply, as of 28 April 2024, your article mentioned that Masbate Governor Antonio Kho is facing a corruption complaint before the Ombudsman when in truth and fact he is not.

We are deeply concerned that the inaccuracy in your reportage may have resulted in the proliferation of false information and damage to the reputation of our client.

We, therefore, find it imperative for the Daily Tribune to issue an erratum and publish a more accurate news article regarding the said complaints to fully address this issue.

We strongly believe that the news story hereto attached as Annex A, would be truly helpful in rectifying the previously published news article.

We have also attached relevant documents to support the accuracy of the information that we are providing as Annexes B to G.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter and we look forward to your prompt action.

Sincerely,

Atty. Renfred C. Tan

Tan Briones & Associates

Editor’s note: The article of reporter Edjen Oliquino was a fair account of a complaint filed with the Ombudsman, the progress of which is still being pursued.