A FREELANCE media personality in Cagayan de Oro City was arrested Tuesday, February 26, for libel in relation to a cybercrime charge filed by a school principal in the city.
Joint elements of the Crime Against Persons and Property Desk (CAPPD) of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo) and cybercrime unit served the arrest warrant against Siegfred "Jigs" Padua in Iponan barangay hall around 9 a.m. Tuesday.
The warrant of arrest was issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 18 last February 1. The court allowed Padua to post bail amounting to P72,000.
CAPPD chief Senior Inspector Mario Mantala said they have been following the daily routine of Padua after they received the court order last Friday.
"Nag tracking na ta sa iya for three days nga gaadtoan siya sa DepEd sa Upper Balulang then barangay hall ug elementary school sa Iponan ug sa Bulua. Gahapon naay info nga cited siya sa Iponan barangay hall mao atong giserve ang warrant," Mantala said.
Mantala said the case stemmed from Padua's social media posts against the complainant.
"Sa nakuha nato nga info usa ka principal sa CDO ang complainant tungod sa posts sa Facebook didto siya nakasuhan," he added.
Padua was detained at Cocpo's jail facility and will likely be committed to the city jail unless he posts bail for his temporary liberty.
Meanwhile, the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) said Padua acted on his own and the COPC has no involvement in whatever dealings he may have that led to his arrest.
In a statement, the COPC assured that it will deal with the situation and appropriate actions will be taken to remove Padua from the club's roster of members in light of what happened.
"COPC will not tolerate this kind of modus being concocted by Mr. Padua who has been using his COPC membership in undertaking these alleged shady transactions," the COPC said.
The COPC hopes that the local media practitioners, COPC members or otherwise, will observe the Code of Ethics of Journalists and hold the media standards in high regard "so we can continue to do our job without fear or compromise."