Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. plans to file a law that will protect whistleblowers against death threats and libel suits.

Prompted by the situation of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, who is facing 80 libel suits, De Venecia said there has to be a law that will safeguard those who are “telling the truth”.

Cruz has been charged with libel for an article, published in several newspapers, wherein he wrote that some female employees of the government-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. were used as ‘guest relations officers’ during the birthday celebration of First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo in 2004.

The initial one count of libel charge against Cruz has been extended to 80 counts, increasing his required bail bond to P800,000 from the original P10,000 which he already paid.

“This is a pure, plain harassment and persecution of our beloved archbishop,” De Venecia said.

In drafting the bill, De Venecia said he plans to consult with recent whistleblowers Jun Lozada and his own son, Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, both of whom exposed in a senate inquiry alleged corruption involving the President and her husband in the $329-milion national broadband network deal of the government with China’s ZTE Corp.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called off the project and the senate hearings have come to a dead end.

But De Venecia said the threat against the lives of Lozada and Joey are still ongoing.

De Venecia said he has not backed out of his earlier pronouncement that he himself is ready to testify on the NBN-ZTE deal, but is just waiting for the “right time”.

The former Speaker added that the government’s existing witness protection program is useless because “nobody is really taking it seriously”.#

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