“Whatever happened to…”

Onion-skinned remembers that SunStar used to have a section called “Whatever happened to…”.  The section followed up on cases, issues, projects that made the news long ago, the present status of which the public might be interested to know.

Onion-skinned has been, for more than four years now, running a “Whatever happened to…” of sorts here, regarding a complaint filed by the Capitol against a SunStar reporter, Karlon N. Rama, or KNR, for fraud in securing documents from a Capitol department, and conflict of interest in pursuing the story.

You can read about that here.  And here.

A few weeks ago, Onion-skinned made another follow up.  But it seems we’re being given the runaround.  Almost five years running.

So whatever happened to that?  Almost all SunStar reporters will tell you that KNR is Cheking Seares’ fair-haired boy, his trouble-shooter (which is not to say KNR doesn’t cause those troubles himself), the guy who does his dirty work.

Have you noticed, for instance, why discredited so-called “whistleblower” Cris Saavedra always gets banner story treatment at SunStar?  That’s because Cris Saavedra is KNR’s patron, and Cheking… well, you get the picture.

“In God’s time…” we are often told, when we wait too long for something that doesn’t seem coming.  When will the God of SunStar and the CCPC finally end this waiting?

Media always pester government offices for action on complaints.  Unless SunStar acts on this, what moral authority does it have to expect others to act?

May I suggest that this case be put on a pedestal at the Media Gallery of the Museo Sugbo, as the oldest open complaint against a media member.

If Cheking Seares is so clean…

Wby is he protecting one particular reporter?

Almost five years ago, the Capitol filed a complaint against Karlon N. Rama, or KNR, a reporter for SunStar, for using fraud in securing documents from the Capitol, and for having a personal and pecuniary interest in a story which he nonetheless covered.

To make a long story short, he — in his stories — lambasted the Capitol, whose Governor was and continues to be the chair of the Mactan-Cebu Bridge Management Baord (MCBMB), for the latter board’s award of a contract for the exclusive use of the bridge for marketing and advertising material to a certain company, which won in a public bidding.

Of course, KNR was rooting for  the losing bidder.

That’s fine.  But in pursuit of his story against the Capitol, KNR obtained documents from a department at the Capitol by claiming, falsely, that he had the clearance of the Governor and her consultant on information, which was a big fat lie.

Pretending to be mortified by KNR’s acts, Cheking Seares assured the Governor that a “committee” had been convened to investigate KNR’s actions, and that the committee would inform the Governor of the results, and the action taken.

That was more than four years ago.  Just to prove this, onion-skinned had been harping about Cheking’s inaction in a blog written three years ago.

After that foolhardy video documentary that Cheking Seares produced (and which KNR executed, in accordance with Cheking Seares’ wishes), onion-skinned sent a text message to Cheking Seares, asking him about the status of the complaint.

And this is Cheking Seares’ reply:  “I now do other tasks in SunStar but I will refer your question to Isolde and Michelle.”

Four years?  Still no action?  Is this why he was awarded the Gawad Plaridel?  Because of his ability to protect his cronies from liability and accountability?

onion-skinned asked Michelle (because she’s always nice), but not Isolde (because she’s bitter), about the status of the case, but it seems SunStar is stumped.  No one knows what happened to it because Cheking Seares buried the case while he was editor-in-chief.

So it seems Karlon N. Rama, or KNR is Cheking Seares’ bitch.  If you recall, Cheking Seares, in a meeting with members of the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ), blamed the stupid video documentary on media corruption on KNR.

So is that what everything has come to?  Cheking Seares condemns reporters in general for eating lunches served them during press conferences, and yet sits on clear cases of conflct of interest, just because the reporter in question is his bitch?

No wonder reporters are grumbling about the hypocrisy of that video documentary.  Cheking Seares, producer of that video, cannot even come clean about this apparent case of media corruption.

onion-skinned is waiting for the results of that so-called investigaiton.