VICE presidential candidate Walden Bello, who was declared "persona non grata" by the 19th Davao City Council, returned to Davao City and filed a counter affidavit in response to the cyberlibel complaints filed against him by former Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas.
Bello, right after filing his counter affidavit at the Davao City Hall of Justice on Wednesday morning, April 20, told the Davao media that the filing of the complaint was “politically motivated” and claimed that it was ordered by fellow vice Presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
The candidate called the complaint "baseless" and "harassment purposes."
"Given the fact that it has hardly any basis in truth and fact," Bello said.
Lawyer Luke Espiritu, Bello's legal counsel and senatorial candidate of the Partido Lakas ng Masa, called the cyberlibel complaint against his client "baseless."
Espiritu said the vice presidential candidate only meant to challenge Duterte-Carpio in a debate and for the latter to address the issues of her former aide being involved in a drug raid in Mabini, Davao de Oro in November last year.
"The statements that were referring to Jefry Tupas merely to news reports that are already spread by news media regarding the raid wherein Ms. Jefry Tupas was involved," Espiritu said.
"The subject of the material is Sara Duterte, not Jefry Tupas. There is, nothing at all, na (that is) directed to Jefry Tupas, herself. Walden just wanted Sara Duterte to debate with him, and explain the news reports about Jefry Tupas," Espiritu added.
He said the statement was merely an expression of an opinion rendered based on the news reports and as such it should be “protected” as it was based on established fact that a drug raid took place.
Tupas formally filed a P10-million cyberlibel case complaint against Bello on March 7 after the latter posted online accusing the former CIO of being involved in a drug trade.
The Office of the City Mayor confirmed Tupas's resignation, but she was also terminated from her post after being involved in a drug raid on November 6, 2021 in Mabini, Davao de Oro.
Prior to her resignation, Tupas, in a message forwarded to the media late Monday evening, November 8, confirmed that she was at the beach party in a resort in Barangay Pindasan, Mabini, Davao de Oro on Saturday, November 6, wherein P1.5 million worth of party drugs was confiscated by law enforcers.
Tupas confirmed her presence before the raid, which resulted in the arrest of 17 individuals for possession of illegal drugs.
Lawyer Caesar Europa, Tupas's legal counsel said they have yet to read the other party's counter affidavit.
"Wa pa ko kabasa (We haven’t read it yet), but of course it is part and parcel of the right of [Mr.] Bello to due process for him to be given the opportunity to file his counter affidavit," Europa said in a forwarded statement to the media.
Persona non grata
The City Council declared Bello "persona non grata" through a resolution on March 22 for his "malicious claims" of the city being the "drug center" of the southern part of the Philippines and that some of the big ticket projects are hounded with corruption.
Persona non grata is a Latin word that literally means "an unwelcome person." In the legal sense, a person so declared is no longer welcome in a country or specific place and "is usually forced to return to his or her native country/place."
Bello said during the Commission on Elections (Comelec) PiliPinas Debates 2022: The Turning Point on March 20 that the city "is the drug center of the south under the control of a member of a Duterte family."
He also said he will focus on "cleansing" the mayor's hometown if he wins in the May 2022 elections.
Among the ongoing city projects that he would focus on is the Davao City Coastal Road and the Davao Public Transport Modernization Project, also known as the High Priority Bus System (HPBS). He claimed these projects are hounded with anomalies.
Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang, who crafted the resolution, said Bello is "not welcome to enter the borders, and entire territorial jurisdiction" of the city.
But Bello returned to the city on Tuesday evening, April 19. He announced this on his social media account, wherein a photo of standing outside a local restaurant in Davao City, marking his return to the city was posted.
The candidate, meanwhile, said that the resolution "does not reflect the sentiment" of the Dabawenyos.
He also maintained his earlier statements, saying these are provided with data and documents.
"'Yung resolution ng City Council does not reflect the opinion of Davao. I think the City Council resolution was mainly written to please the Mayor... The way that I interpreted it is -- The people who drafted it, signed it were really plainly out to get in the good side of the mayor," Bello said.
Bello also said that the council had become a laughing stock of the entire country because of their action.
"Pinagtatawan na sila sa Pilipinas ngayon ang Davao City Council kasi overkill na 'yun. Persona non grata sasabihin sa isang person (The Davao City Council has become the laughing stock of the entire Philippines because what they did is already overkill. You are declaring a person persona non grata) who raises legitimate criticisms that ought to be answered in a debate," he said.
"Unfortunately, the City Council resolution has made Davao the laughing stock of the country kasi (because) other LGUs don't do that. Ito lang yata ang Davao ang gumagawa ng ganyan (I think it is only Davao that is doing this). I feel na nasa (that) citizens of Davao to correct these sort of thing," he added.