Mario B. Casayuran, a consultant of the Manila Bulletin, has issued a clarification on the two stories he had written.
These stories are:
- “PNP to get ₱330-M Radar Speed Guns,” published through the newspaper “Tempo” on February 5, 2020; and,
- “Ultra Greed: Lacson urges jail for those in anomalous ₱1 billion PNP gun buy deal,” published online on the website of The Manila Bulletin (http://news.mb.com.ph)
In both articles, the name of Trust Trade was mentioned and as such, may be perceived as having been implicated in the anomalous transactions flagged by Senator Panfilo Lacson, when Trust Trade was not actually mentioned in the press conference conducted by the latter, which press conference was the subject of the two stories.
Shortly, thereafter, the online article was taken down by the editors of Manila Bulletin online, precisely because of the inaccurate information, which Trust Trade had pointed out to the Manila Bulletin.
Mr. Casayuran confirmed that the reference to Trust Trade in both articles was the result of his own misapprehension of facts, and expressed his sincerest regrets as to the manner by which the the name of Trust Trade was mentioned.
Mr. Casayuran expressed his sincere apologies to Trust Trade, and further clarified that he does not know the identities of any officer or personnel thereof. He has no knowledge of any of its transactions, let alone any involvement of Trust Trade in any questionable contract. Mr. Casayuran further conveyed his apologies to Trust Trade and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for any insinuation of impropriety, as he maintained that he has no knowledge that Trust Trade was ever implicated in any anomalous transaction with the PNP or in any of the latter’s investigations.