Inquirer’s reply on VisionQwest’s letter regarding Pacquiao story
Manny Pacquiao. AP FILE PHOTO
Data use unauthorized
At no time has VisionQwest authorized any information regarding Manny Pacquiao or any other organization or persons associated with Mr. Pacquiao to be released for the published story titled, “US taxman after Pacquiao.” (The first of a three-part series that saw print in the Inquirer on Dec. 27.)
The information that you have published did not come from our firm or any member of our firm. References to Michael Joseph Cabuhat are sensationalized to create a story by your newspaper.
Our firm denies any truth to this story and [is] considering taking legal action if this story is not retracted immediately through your print media venues and taken down from your website.
I look forward to your cooperation in this matter.
Regards,
Michael Lodge
Chair, VisionQwest
Accountancy Group
INQUIRER’S REPLY
Based on documents, interviews
ON THE CONTRARY, the story in question, together with the rest of the series, was based on several documents obtained by the Inquirer and a series of interviews with Michael Lodge and Michael Joseph Cabuhat.
Nowhere in the stories was it ever mentioned that the documents had come from either Mr. Lodge or Mr. Cabuhat.
As to “references” to Mr. Cabuhat allegedly being “sensationalized,” we beg to disagree. The Inquirer interviewed Mr. Cabuhat on record on at least two occasions, excluding clarifications made through text messages.
All in all, the interviews lasted at least three hours. He agreed to all information that would be attributed to him, all in an effort to shed light on the issues raised in the series.
We have a digital recording of the lengthy interview with Mr. Cabuhat and logs of a separate online interview with Mr. Lodge.
The Inquirer also took great pains to get the side of Rep. Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum and Michael Koncz. After several attempts, we finally got a reply from Pacquiao’s camp, a brief e-mail sent through his Philippine lawyer. Christian Esguerra, Inquirer reporter
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