Veteran broadcaster and columnist Ramon Tulfo has admitted that he was wrong in reporting that former House Speaker Martin Romualdez was allegedly allowed to leave and return to the New Quezon City Jail without authorization.
In a social media statement, Tulfo described the experience as one of the most “embarrassing and humiliating” moments in his career as a journalist, saying he had been fed incorrect information and accepted it as true before sharing it with his readers.
“Worse, I passed it on to my readers,” Tulfo said, acknowledging that his audience trusted his reporting.
He said the information he received included claims that Romualdez was transported out of the jail aboard an ambulance and that power interruptions were deliberately staged to prevent closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras from recording his alleged movements.
“No such thing happened when the facts started coming in yesterday. It was fiction. I goofed. No excuses,” Tulfo said.
He also acknowledged that he should have verified and cross-checked the information before publishing it.
Tulfo’s admission came after the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said its initial review of CCTV footage showed no recorded power or camera interruptions at the Quezon City Jail-Male Dormitory and no movement by Romualdez outside the facility during the period examined.
The BJMP earlier ordered an investigation into the allegations, stressing that all persons deprived of liberty are subject to the same custodial rules and that any movement outside the jail requires a proper court order.
The controversy also prompted the Sandiganbayan Third Division to order jail superintendent Maria Lourdes Pacion and medical officer Henry Fabro to appear before the anti-graft court on November 5 to testify on Romualdez’s detention status.
The court likewise directed Pacion to preserve relevant CCTV recordings, logs and electronic or digital records.
Romualdez is detained over a non-bailable P7.44-billion plunder case involving alleged kickbacks from flood control and other government infrastructure projects. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
