THE POINTS raised by former Negros Oriental representative Herminio Teves in reaction to the VERA Files stories “Ethical lapses mark passage of biofuels law” and “Iggy Arroyo to use biofuels law to evade CARP?” written by Jessica Hermosa and Johanna Sisante had already been mentioned in the said reports.
The reports stated that he is currently into jatropha planting for biodiesel. They also fairly quoted Teves about his leasing of denuded non-arable land as well as the supposed employment opportunities created by his jatropha plantation. He himself said in an interview that he is considering exporting jatropha. Biofuel terms were also clarified in the reports.
VERA Files maintains that the investigation for the report was meticulous and comprehensive as the writers’ six month-research included gathering and reading voluminous biofuels studies, public documents and interviewing dozens of sources.