Ramon Tulfo is on a roll

THERE is no such thing as a Ramon Tulfo brand of journalism.

The self-proclaimed anti-poor crusader, after all, does not even practice journalism, not even in the most expanded sense of the term.

Journalism, you will agree with me, is necessarily responsible, and Tulfo's work, judging by the libel complaints and public rebukes he has already received over many of his articles, is clearly the opposite of that.

Consider Tulfo's recent columns against Teresita Angeles, an assistant commissioner at the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

In his August 6 column, "Conversation between two BIR execs reveals all," Tulfo described what he said was a conversation between Angeles and Don Samson, alleged chief of staff of BIR commissioner Caesar Dulay, while the two "were taking up short courses at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US."

Tulfo claimed Angeles and Samson spoke of the rampant corruption in the Bureau of Internal Revenue under Dulay on video.

In the August 8 column “I’m helping Digong clean up the Augean stables," Tulfo claimed Angeles had been placed on floating status because of the video and that her superiors at the BIR refused to "share the loot" with her.

Angeles herself has dismissed all of Tulfo's allegations as malicious, and went to the extent of writing to The Manila Times, which published Tulfo's columns.

In the first place, she said what Tulfo claimed was a conversation between her and Samson -- who by the way is Dulay's executive assistant and not chief of staff -- never took place.

Angeles noted Tulfo never bothered to ask her if she was the one talking in the video, nor getting her side on his allegations.

Angeles also denied being placed on floating status due to the video, and denied talking about corruption in the BIR.

Frankly, Tulfo would not have had received a very public rebuke had he practiced real journalism, and gotten both sides of the story.

Tulfo, as he is not wont to do, should have verified the information in his column, and not hid behind the motherhood statement of "my sources said."

Even if journalism is literature in a hurry, it does not exempt the journalist from exercising care before publishing information that can make or break the character of a person.

Then again, this is Tulfo.

And Tulfo is not a journalist, just a peddler of lies. (Sponsored content)

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