The following is the statement issued by Bombo Radyo in response to Lex Adonis claim that the network abandoned him. This was originally published in three parts in the Feb. 23, 24 and 25, 2007, issues of the Mindanao Daily Mirror.
Broadcaster Alexander Lex Adonis should not blame Bombo Radyo, his former employer, for his conviction in the libel case filed by Congressman Prospero Nograles arising from the Burlesk King controversy. He only has himself to blame for his woes.
His allegations that he was not allowed to make a public apology to Congressman Nograles and that Bombo Radyo did not support him in his case are preposterous. These claims are pure lies concocted by him to gain public sympathy at the expense of his former employer who supported him and his co-accused from day one of the case.
Apology-for-dismissal
Some well-meaning friends of Bombo Radyo and Congressman Nograles floated the suggestion that the case may be settled amicably and it may be withdrawn if Lex Adonis and his co-accused make a public apology and identify the person or persons whom the solon suspects to have prodded Adonis to tackle the Burlesk King issue. But Adonis refused to apologize, saying that he is standing by his story and that no one from within or outside Bombo Radyo was directing him to carry the Burlesk King issue.
There never was a management directive which prohibited him from apologizing to Nograles. On the contrary, it was Adonis who refused to apologize as he assured Bombo Radyo of his facts; that he will stand by it and that no person with unscrupulous interests was behind him. He even assured his immediate station officers then and fellow Bombo anchormen and reporters that he will be presenting a video recording of the alleged incident as well as the travel and hotel records of persons named in the Burlesk King issue.
We at Bombo Radyo were only surprised to learn lately that he apologized to Nograles in a TV interview only after he has been arrested when his conviction became final. As an independent and responsible news organization, Bombo Radyo does not condone the wrongdoings of its personnel but is steadfast to defend the freedom of the press. It was the managements position then that in view of the refusal of Adonis to accept the apology-for-dismissal being floated about, it was not proper for Bombo Radyo to compel him to do so because that would be tantamount to an undue encroachment upon his Constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of expression as a member of the legitimate media.
Had Adonis acknowledged earlier that he was wrong, Bombo Radyo would have been the first to issue a public apology as the network believes that in the exercise of our calling, lapses and inadvertence do happen. And the most honorable act to do is to acknowledge ones mistakes and take full responsibility for the same.
