Covering a ‘Conspiracy’

A ‘plot’ fails, the government strikes back, and a reporter is in trouble
Covering a ‘Conspiracy’
By Ellen Tordesillas

A cardinal rule in news reporting is: never burn your sources.
Yet that was precisely what Time magazine did to Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and businessman Pastor Saycon in its account of the alleged aborted coup d’etat that was reportedly planned to take place Feb. 24, 2006, during the celebration of the 20th year of the first People Power.

The following is the incriminating portion of the article written by Bryan Walsh as reported by Nelly Sindayen, Time’s Philippine correspondent:

No official details have been released about the nature of the alleged coup, but on Thursday evening a Time reporter witnessed a meeting held at the home of Jose Cojuangco, brother of former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, where plans were being hatched for what one of the ringleaders called a “withdrawal of support” from President Arroyo. More than a dozen middle-level officials and businessmen were at the meeting, which went well past one in the morning. While Cojuangco’s daughter Mikee kept the buffet table piled high with chicken sandwiches, macaroni salad, corn and cookies, Pastor Saycon, a businessman and longtime Arroyo critic, planned for a new government. As the others listened, Saycon spoke over the phone to a person he identified as an American official in Washington, assuring him that the post-coup regime would still be friendly to the U.S. “You will still be our friend, not China,” he said. Then, Saycon phoned a man whom he addressed as “Delta” and identified as General Lim. Over the speaker phone, Lim confirmed that it was “all systems go” for the planned movement against Arroyo. According to Saycon, a military component was to march on Friday morning to the EDSA Shrine in Manila, where the 20th anniversary of the People Power revolution was to be celebrated. At the shrine they would be met by a contingent of Catholic bishops, and a Marine general would read a statement withdrawing support from Arroyo’s government. The bishops, according to Saycon, had one request: that the coup be bloodless.

The Time reporter Bryan Walsh referred to was Nelly Sindayen, their Philippine correspondent, who had given the prestigious magazine a number of scoops in the past.

The Time account has been used by the government in its official “chronology of conspiracy” and made as the basis for the investigation of Saycon and Cojuangco by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Lim is now under military custody and undergoing investigation by both the NBI and the inspector general for possible court martial.

Cojuangco, who is presidential adviser for food security and president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, and his wife, Margarita “Tingting” Cojuangco, undersecretary in the Department of Interior and Local Government and concurrently the president of the Philippine Public Safety College, vehemently denied that the gathering in their house on Feb. 23 was meant to hatch a plan to withdraw support from Arroyo.

Although former President Aquino, sister of Cojuangco, is a common sight in activities asking for the resignation of Arroyo, the Cojuangco couple was never associated with the opposition.

Opposition leaders find amusing the report that they were meeting to plan military withdrawal of support from Arroyo in Peping Cojuangco’s house.

In an e-mail to friends that was going around the Internet, Jojo Guingona, son-in-law of Cojuangco, who was in that family gathering said, “It saddens me deeply that a reporter for such a prestigious publication cannot distinguish between a coup plot and a bunch of people who were  trying to get information about what was happening (at that time).”

Guingona asked a common-sense question: “If this had been a real power grab or what-have-you, shouldn’t we have had some military people in our midst?”

In her statement to the NBI, Sindayen, through her lawyer, stood by her story. This writer talked with her and all she could say was, “Our lawyer advised me not to say anything.”

Cojuangco, in a TV interview, said the gathering in his house evening of Feb. 23 was in preparation for a Feb. 25 party that they would be having in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first People Power in 1986.  He further said Sindayen was not an invited guest but she was told by Saycon to “come over” because she was badgering him for confirmation about rumors of a coup.

Cojuangco related that when Sindayen arrived, Saycon, who is known not to be shy about his connections with people who matter, gathered others to the den from where  he called up Lim. He activated the speaker phone for everybody to hear the conversation.

It is doubtful if Lim knew that the conversation was being listened to by others, particularly a reporter who was going to write about it. Since she was going to quote Lim, Sindayen should have informed him about it.

In writing a story, a reporter should consider, aside from accuracy, whether it would put lives in danger. It’s not just ethics. It’s conscience.

Ellen Tordesillas is a columnist for Malaya.

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