Senator Grace Poe should look into RJ Nieto's government consultancy

A decade or so ago, I remember several of my online colleagues talking about responsible reportage. Many were so disappointed with how traditional media covers the news that netizens like me, decided to create our own media platform. And I remember bloggers dis-associating themselves with so-called "paid media."

Now, what I heard is that many bloggers are being paid not just by politicians, but by brands. Gone are the days when you just ask bloggers to cover events and write if they want to.

Individuals like RJ Nieto and several other so-called "netizens" have sprouted and took it upon themselves to monetize their online presence. They used their blogs and websites as platforms and prostituted themselves before the Mammon. Only a few kept the fires of true citizen journalism alive.

When I was still active as a blogger, several people began spewing their thoughtless venom online by cursing and thru ad hominem attacks. They have since faded away. In their stead are people who talk about useless things and invented news out of thin air.

Even this so-called "thinking pinoy" was not "thinking" when he wrote those entries in his blog. Some read this blog only because it appears to make sense but, unfortunately, it does not.

Because if this "thinking" Pinoy is really "thinking", he should have thought that by maintaining a blog and admitting that he is a "consultant" of 'OWWA" and "DFA", he opens himself to scrutiny.

During the live Senate hearings, I heard this RJ Nieto character as boasting his being a "consultant" of government. Yes, there is simply no "employer-employee" relationship between him and the government but he is entirely covered by the ethical codes and standards which government employees and officials follow.

He cannot weaponize his blog to attack the opposition because by being a government consultant, you are supposed to be neutral because your boss is not DUTERTE but the people who pay your consultancy fee.

The fact is---Senator Grace Poe must look deeply into the working relationship between this RJ Nieto character and the agencies he reportedly services.

Why? Because maybe Mr. Nieto's contract did not undergo the same strict standards as set by law insofar as hiring communications firms are concerned. It could be that government pays him as a troll thru the supposed consultancy.

If Mr. Nieto is indeed an official government consultant, his qualifications should be according to the TOR or Terms of Reference by these government agencies.

For example, if Mr. Nieto is indeed a DFA consultant, then, he should have, at least knowledge of international relations. But if he is only being "consulted to" because he maintains a blog, then, is that payola in the clearest terms?

Probably, he's no thinking Pinoy but a bubble head Pinoy.