Letter to the editor?

I recently received an email copy of a “Letter to the Editor” allegedly sent by “The Band of Brothers” whom I mentioned in my column last Friday. I subsequently sent the email to my editor who informed me that they have not received any such letter, so I forwarded the email to them and after reading the letter, the person in-charge of “Letters” sent me this reply:

“Much as Letters to the Editor would want to publish the rejoinder of the “Band of Brothers” to the column of Mr. Cito Beltran, Letters is being prevented by the following factors:

1. The rejoinder has no official source (names, address, contact info). There is no way to verify that the rejoinder came from the people who claim to belong to the band of brothers.

2. It mentions the name of a former senator who was not mentioned in the column. Publishing the rejoinder would besmirch the good name of the former senator.

3. Publishing the rejoinder as is, could lead to a possible Senate investigation due to the allegation of a P4-billion loss, the mention of a senator’s name, as well as specific regions and records.”

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I’m certain that this response from the “Letter to the Editor” section would not sit well with the letter writer or email sender claiming to represent and speaking on behalf of “regional vice presidents of PhilHealth,” but it is a fact that I never mentioned any names nor did I connect any specific wrongdoing to a specific person, region, province or unit of PhilHealth. I could have but I did not! The band of brothers is the use of editorial license using a movie title. I did so because the intention of the article was to spotlight on the fact that there are now efforts within PhilHealth to address long-standing issues regarding poor performance, slow processing of claims or slow collection of dues etc., etc. Unfortunately the email sender went ballistic and did a tirade about libelous commentary, my not being professional, not doing the research, etc. Sadly the sender even wrote the name of a senator who was never mentioned in the article. As a final touch, the sender also raised the name of my father as someone turning from the grave due to the article.

I always teach my students in Communication to be very careful what you write in a Letter to the Editor because throwing stones at a growling lion might encourage it to come back and eat you alive. Had the letter of the band of brothers been printed verbatim, it would have unnecessarily placed others under scrutiny and public ridicule. Did the writer get the permission of all concerned or did he simply take the point as lawyer? Did he consider the consequences of naming names? For starters any regional officer writing such a letter is usually required to clear it with their superiors and legal office. So if the letter writer did not consult other members of the brotherhood and did not get clearance from his superiors he would have committed double jeopardy and that does not include his naming of un-named individuals.

Unlike the irate letter writer, someone else from the band of brothers actually texted me: “Sir, I think we need equal space in your column. Gud aftrnun.” It turns out that I had once met this particular person along with his wife many years back, and so I immediately called the guy and discussed the contents of my article. I barely remembered him and never knew that he worked for PhilHealth. I specifically told him that they were welcomed to write a “Letter to the Editor” but I cautioned him that in doing so they would have to give their identities and this in turn would put them under the spotlight along with their families. At best I suggested that he and his brothers should consider the article as a “heads up” or advanced warning that the agency is serious about its Internal Affairs clean up.

This individual explained to me that transfers or reassignment are fine but Civil Service Commission rules provide that there be consultation and agreement because relocation is not cheap and sometimes it is used to harass or get rid of individuals disliked by management. He told me that in several cases, the CSC issued a stay of transfer until issues are resolved. With regards to the NBI investigation, he confirmed that a team had indeed visited the region looking into certain allegations but ultimately pulled out, convinced that there is an internal conflict or family feud within PhilHealth so the Team left for Manila.

The individual also confirmed that members of the group were invited to the office of a once-powerful Congressman when the former president of PhilHealth Inday Dela Serna had been called in but they knew nothing about the meeting or the agenda. He claims they were merely innocent bystanders and had not gone to the Congressman to talk or lobby against Dela Serna.

As the day progressed I also received a message from someone explaining that PhilHealth officials being asked to transfer or relocate cannot afford to maintain their primary home as well as another residence or place to stay where they are stationed. The source expressed that in their case, it is possible that certain officials did not like the idea that her husband had initiated anti-fraud programs, one-stop shop services etc. because it renders services being offered by big companies from Metro Manila as moot and expensive.

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Clearly there are so many sides and vested interests within and outside the agency and there is so much stuff but too little space. At the end of the day, we all have our version of things and if you want to be heard, BE NICE.

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Email: [email protected].