Edu Punay
IT WAS an ordinary day patrolling at the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) where I was assigned as a junior reporter sometime in December 2008. Officials and agents were down as if they had just lost a war. Little did I know that the scoop I was about to bump into would later on define my essence as a journalist.
Indeed, PDEA officials just lost a battle — a legal battle on a drug case they’ve worked on for quite a period of time. It was the case against the Alabang Boys, three scions from prominent families caught in successive buybust operations, that was dismissed by prosecutors of the Department of Justice.
Mostly from the military with very wide intelligence network, I was told of an A-1 information about the bribery of fiscals for the dismissal of the case.
The controversy broke that Malacañang had to form an investigative body to probe the exposé published in the
Metro page. As expected, I was summoned and had to testify and face grilling by the panel chaired by the late Supreme Court justice Carolina Aquino.
Being a young journo with only five years in the industry then, I knew it was not an ordinary experience in this profession. Not every reporter gets death threats while attending a hearing, warnings everywhere for taking on an illegal drugs syndicate, libel case from a DOJ official and police security escorts. It was one hell of a ride that I bravely took anyway. In the end, vindication came. The probe body found evidence of bribery. The Palace penalized the handling prosecutor, reversed the DOJ resolution and filed the drug case in court — with all three Alabang Boys jailed. Reforms were also initiated regarding handling of drug cases by the DOJ.
It was that one story that made me realize how significant my role in society is as a journalist. I thought I became an instrument for exposing the truth that otherwise would have not been known and, more importantly, an instrument for positive change.
Since I joined The Philippine STAR 13 years ago, truth and fairness in reporting have always been the guiding values. No matter how tough the challenges and consequences will be in pursuing a hidden story, I know that at the end of the day, Truth Shall Prevail.