Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Gus Tambunting standing outside Jeffrey "Ka Eric" Celiz and Lorraine Badoy's detention building at the House of Representatives. (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Parañaque City 2nd district Rep. Gus Tambunting already knows the identity of SMNI program anchor Jeffrey "Ka Eric" Celiz's "mystery source".

Tambunting said Celiz himself told him the name of the person when he visited the latter and his fellow anchor Lorraine Badoy inside their detention building near the south gate of Batasan Complex.

"Yes, a name was given. There is a source," the veteran lawmaker told reporters.

"We have to discuss this of course with the Committee, and the Speaker [Martin Romualdez] and the Senate President [Juan Miguel 'Migz' Zubiri]," Tambunting said. Batasan is the home of the House of Representatives.

Celiz and Badoy brought up the allegation that Speaker Romualdez spent a whopping P1.8 billion on his travels on the Nov. 27 episode of Laban Kasama Ang Bayan, which aired over SMNI. Solons proved it to be false in a hearing three days later.

During a Dec. 5 hearing by the same panel, a defiant Celiz refused to name his source for the allegation and made a scene. This led to him being cited in contempt and detained by the House.

Badoy was also ordered detained during the same hearing.

Celiz earlier said that his source was male and a employee at the Senate, which is the co-equal legislative chamber of the House.

Tambunting confirmed the source's gender. As for the latter's connection with the Senate, the panel chairman said, "We'd have to validate all of that."

HAVE YOU READ THIS?

https://mb.com.ph/2023/12/8/imaginary-person-tambunting-says-celiz-must-prove-source-is-real

The Parañaque solon had earlier said that Celiz was "duty-bound" to ensure that his source was real and not imagined.

At any rate, Tambunting said Celiz won't automatically be released from detention just because he has finally identified his source.

"Hindi naman ho automatic yan (That is not automatic) but we will have to study the options now.

But it's one step forward. If the person na binigay po niya ay totoo, at talagang isang buhay na tao, at talagang dun naman ay nagtatarabaho, eh that would lighten their guilt," he said.

(If the name that he gave is true, if he's a real person, if he really works there, then that would lighten their guilt.)

Tambunting added: "I can see naman na they're also...remorseful at nagsisi rin, especially behavior nila sa committee."

(I can see that they're also remorseful and they've regretted their behavior at the committee.)