Metro Manila, Philippines – An online news article about a media group’s multimillion-peso deal with the lottery agency was part of a demolition job against him, said Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Jay Ruiz on Tuesday, March 4.
In a press briefing, Ruiz said he initially considered filing cyber libel complaints against the publishers of an online story that claimed he benefited from the joint venture between media company Digital8, IBC-13, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) .Ang ikinalulungkot ko lang dito po ay, alam mo, napakabigat po ng akusasyon. Ito nga iyon eh, nandito siya o. Sabing ganoon dito, parang tumama sa lotto – ‘Jay Ruiz company bags 206 million contracts from PCSO.’ Walang byline, walang pangalan kung sino sumulat nito ‘di ba – online site, walang pangalan. Iba pa, may mga nag-carry pa ng iba,” said the former broadcast journalist.[Translation: What saddens me here is that, you know, the accusation is very serious. Here it is, it’s right here. It says, as if I won the lottery – ‘Jay Ruiz company bags 206 million contracts from PCSO.’ No byline, no name of the writer, right? An online site with no name. Worse, others even carried the story.]Ruiz reiterated that he has no shares in the media company.It’s fake news. It’s fake news. Unang-una, I don’t own a share. I’m not a stockholder. I am not an owner of Digital8. I was an authorized representative, assigned to represent the company in the joint venture agreement between IBC-13, Digi8, and PCSO. I never owned that company,” he said.Ruiz said he was not asked for a comment or statement before the online story was published. The new PCO chief also revealed that a reshuffle in the agency is imminent, along with efforts to streamline operations to prevent leaks of sensitive information.On my 8th day ha, 8th day may ganito nang istoryang lumalabas. Ano ito demolition job? Fake news ba ito? Ano ang dahilan?” he said. Translation: On my 8th day, ha, 8th day, and this kind of story is already coming out. Is this a demolition job? Is this fake news? What is the reason?] Ruiz said he has tightened security for himself and his family, believing the situation is getting out of hand.Kasi una, iyong consequence sa family ko – mom ko hinay-blood, kapatid ko; pangalawa, recently may mga kidnappings ‘di ba, may mga anak ako na wala namang bodyguard iyan. Sasabihin ninyo may 206 million na kinita dito, wala naman. So, naging target pa ngayon kami ng mga masasamang loob. Huwag naman ganoon,” he said.[Translation: First, the consequence for my family – my mom had high blood pressure, my sibling too; second, there have been recent kidnappings, right? My children don’t have bodyguards. And now they’re saying I earned 206 million from this, which isn’t true. So now we’ve become a target for criminals. That’s not fair.] The PCO chief said that while he has nothing to divest from Digital8, he will likely divest from his other businesses that could pose a potential conflict of interest.I have another company that I will divest from – it’s a political management firm, and there may be a conflict of interest there, so that’s where I will divest. I also own restaurants,” he said.
