MORE than a month after the Cebu City Government lodged its charges, the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has found probable cause to indict Cebu Updates program hosts Erwin Dela Cerna and Christian Tura for illegal access and computer-related identity theft under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
But Dela Cerna and Tura have already posted bail of P120,000 each on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.
The Regional Trial Court Branch 11 in Cebu City scheduled their arraignment and pre-trial conference on April 30.
The Cebu City Government said that the Cebu Updates page was a former Public Information Office (PIO) page of the city and is now being utilized for “political propaganda” against Mayor Michael Rama.
SunStar Cebu obtained a copy of the resolution, dated March 13, 2024 and signed by Assistant City Prosecutor Lei Maurae Babatulan, from former city attorney Jerone Castillo on Friday, April 26, 2024.
The Prosecutor’s Office said there is probable cause to indict Tura and Dela Cerna for violation of Section 4(a), paragraph 1 of Republic Act 10175 for illegal access, because the complainant, former PIO head of Cebu City Estela Grace Rosit, have “convincingly” established that the Cebu Updates Facebook page is the same page originally created for the Cebu City Government.
While Dela Cerna and Tura denied the allegations against them, saying they are not the administrators of the Facebook page “Cebu Updates,” the prosecutor’s office noted that “the respondents, by their denial, have not justified how the access of the same came to their hands.”
“While they claim to be mere talents or anchors invited to do live broadcasts, they did not divulge the administrators they claim to be behind it. It does not change the fact that their access to the same is without right,” read a portion of the resolution. (WBS)