Cong Corrales A WHOLE week has passed since the supposed arrest of a prominent politician allegedly for possession of illegal drugs yet not a single report has been written about it. There was one active Facebook user who posted it on his wall, but that didn’t really count as a news report. The problem now is, he may end up being charged with cyber libel because he “confirmed” his own “news teaser” on the same thread were he asked if the reports were true. My source told me the relatives of the politician (mind you, these are very powerful people) are prepping a case against him. “Gipatawag na ra ba ni ___ iya mga legal consultant. Gipang screenshot man nila ang mga post ni ___ which he deleted na,” my Bukidnon source said. I think it is safe to say that I wasn’t alone in wanting to write this story. The relatives of the politician have openly supported President-elect Rodrigo Duterte who, everyone knows... “Oh my god, (I) hate drugs.” The drama of the story can practically write itself. I admit I was tempted to write the story. However, my sources from Bukidnon, Davao, and Manila told me different versions of the alleged arrest. The problem was that the supposed arrest had two versions which I gathered from my Bukidnon and Manila sources. My Bukidnon source claimed the politician was arrested in Cebu by drug enforcement agents from Davao. My source posited that that may be the reason why the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Region 10 could neither confirm nor deny since the supposed arrest didn’t happen in their turf. But my Manila source said the politician was arrested in Davao and was brought to Manila to face his family’s benefactor who was in Manila at that time. My source also alleged that this same politician was arrested for drugs before. He claimed that the Tulfo brothers even had a video of him allegedly in a pot session. What happened next we can only surmise since there never was a report by any of the Tulfo brothers about the supposed arrest of the politician then. Over the weekend, my Davao source told me yet another version of the story. She said the arrest didn’t happen in Davao but here in the city, and that it was the son of the politician who got arrested. “Sure ni, Cong. Pero NBI Cagayan (de Oro) ambot kung muangkon,” she told me. Now, I trust this person completely. However, without any corroborating statements from official sources, I still cannot write the story. I told my Davao source that the NBI here has neither confirmed nor denied any alleged arrest. My Davao source, in exasperation, said, “Isumbong na kang, Digong.” I asked a judge who is a friend of the family for good measure. He is a respected drug court judge, mind you. Still, as in the template of police reports, “to no avail.” A journo-friend from Bukidnon hinted a “news blackout” since according to her the relatives, the politician has the penchant for “buying off” reporters to withhold coverage when it is inimical to their political careers. She suggested Cagayan de Oro media should write about the arrest anyway since we are physically far from Bukidnon. I told her the laws apply to any part of the republic. I told her without at least two official sources confirming the alleged arrest, it is not much of a story at all. The last thing I would want to be is a cell mate of a colleague in the Cagayan de Oro media who is currently languishing in jail for libel. I used this situation to point out the difference between “meme-brained reporters” on line and the dilemma we in the print medium face when we break a half-baked story. So, I have decided to leave it alone. My editor-in-chief always says, “When in doubt, don’t.”