DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 November)—Defeated vice-presidential candidate Walden Bello is hopeful that the Regional Trial Court (RTC) 10 in Davao City will adjudge his pending cyber libel case here similar to the lens of how Senator Leila de Lima was being granted for release by the Supreme Court.
“I hope the release of Senator De Lima and the rectification of this great injustice will also have an impact in terms of other political cases including our own, that will lead to the dismissal of these cases,” Bello said Thursday noon here.
Last Monday, the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted De Lima’s petition to bail after nearly seven years of detention in Camp Crame due to drug charges.
Bello said with De Lima’s release, it should shed light on the political nature of their own cyber libel charge here in Davao City, which they believe is also a “miscarriage of justice” orchestrated by Vice President Sara Duterte and her camp.
Notably, Bello was sued for cyber libel Jefry Tupas, Duterte’s chief information officer when she was mayor of Davao City.
Tupas filed the case before the Office of the City Prosecutor back in March 2022, days after Bello made the “drug dealer” accusation in an online press conference aired in the latter’s Facebook page.
Bello’s camp has since then said that the case is “highly politically motivated.”
“I think that the camp of the vice president, instead of harassing people like me… they should really just focus on her work and not spend people’s money in prosecuting people like me,” Bello said.
Meanwhile, Estrella Elamparo, a member of Bello’s legal camp, said that they are keen to file a petition to dismiss evidence against Bello.
Elamparo asserts that Bello’s pending case is a “personal persecution,” filed by Tupas at the height of the campaign for the national and local elections May last year.
She also questioned Duterte’s actions, as Tupas was supposedly fired due to alleged drug charges as well, but is now back in their office as one of the staff of the vice president.
“This gives us a feeling that Tupas is just being used as a proxy by the vice president. We hope not, but it seems that way, because if she believed that her staff was accountable as she claimed when [Duterte] supposedly fired her, then why is she now at OVP and being paid taxpayers’ money?” Elamparo said.
Elamparo said that defending Bello’s case is a part of their “bigger fight” to remove cyber libel as a criminal offense, as some use this “as a tool for political persecution rather than protecting freedom of speech.”
“We have plans of using this case to raise once again the issue of constitutionality of the libel and cyber libel laws. We believe that even though no right is unlimited… but we believe it does not rise to a violation of the right of free speech, that does not rise to the level of criminal cases,” Elamparo said.
It can be noted that Duterte has denied any involvement in the two counts of cyber libel that were filed against her Bello.
“Instead of deflecting blame, playing the victim of an imaginary case of political persecution, and dragging me into his legal woes, I suggest that Mr. Bello be reminded of the fact that a civilized and democratic society does not respect hubris. The right to freedom of speech and expression does not protect anyone from defiling the name and reputation of others,” Duterte stated in August 2022.
She has not yet released any statements on Bello since.
Currently, cyber libel in the Philippines is a criminal offense. It is governed by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, defining it as the unlawful or prohibited act of committing libel through a computer system or any other similar means.
Those found guilty of cyber libel can face imprisonment for six years and one day to 12 years, as well as fines determined by the court based on the circumstances of the case.
In accordance with the libel definition under Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code, circumstances may include those tending “to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of the dead.” (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
