PROSECUTORS recommended the dismissal of 12 counts of cyberlibel against Cebu City Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr., citing insufficient evidence linking him to allegedly defamatory Facebook posts.
In a joint resolution dated Feb. 19, 2026, Marawi City prosecutors said complaints filed by businessman Ibrahim Ala Dianalan Jr. failed to meet the standard of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.
The case stemmed from a series of Facebook posts published between September and October 2025 during the controversy over the Colon Night Market in Cebu City.
Dianalan, head of the Participative Association of Sugbo Vendors Inc., said the posts damaged his reputation by calling him a “dakung sindikato” and “dakung buaya.”
He said he had secured the necessary permits, including a special business permit issued on Sept. 1, 2025, and City Council authority allowing the temporary closure of a portion of Colon Street.
Despite those approvals, Alcover questioned in several Facebook posts the legality of the operations and alleged that vendors were charged P6,000 a month without authorization.
Prosecutors said a key issue in the case was the need to establish authorship.
Dianalan argued that the accounts “Jun Alcover” and “Jun Amigo” belonged to the councilor, citing profile photos and videos showing Alcover speaking. Prosecutors, however, said that was insufficient.
“Social media identities can easily be imitated or manipulated,” the resolution said, adding that public figures are especially vulnerable to impersonation.
The complainant submitted preserved screenshots and videos, along with affidavits from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Unit in Central Visayas confirming that the posts existed. Prosecutors said the evidence was insufficient to establish authorship.
They said that while preservation helps maintain the integrity of digital evidence, it does not prove who created the content.
The panel said the complainant failed to present forensic evidence such as IP logs, geolocation data or account registration details. The screenshots, prosecutors said, were unauthenticated private electronic documents lacking technical verification.
Alcover denied owning the accounts. He also said that even if he made the statements, they were protected political criticism involving matters of public concern, including road closures and vendor fees.
Prosecutors applied the Department of Justice’s higher evidentiary threshold and said the evidence amounted only to suspicion, which is insufficient for criminal prosecution.
The resolution said that in cyberlibel cases, proving the author’s identity is indispensable. Citing Supreme Court guidelines on crimes committed through social media, prosecutors said authorship must be established through clear evidence such as admission, direct observation or technical data like IP logs. None of those were presented./CAV