THE Davao City Prosecutor's Office (CPO) has indicted former vice-presidential candidate Walden Bello for two counts of libel following the case filed against him by former city information officer (CIO) Jefry Tupas.
In a seven-page resolution signed on June 9 by Prosecutor Jose Charito Cortez, Bello is indicted for violation of libel under Article 353 in relation to Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, in further relation of Section 4(c)(4) and 6 of Republic Act No. 10175.
Cortez said Bello's online post on March 1 this year "shows all elements of libel are present."
"There was a clear malicious imputation of a crime when the respondent (Bello) alleges that the complainant (Tupas) was nabbed snorting 1.5 million pesos worth of drugs and describing the latter as a drug dealer," the prosecutor said.
In addition, "In determining whether a statement is defamatory, the words used are construed in their entirety and taken in their plain, natural, and ordinary meaning as they would naturally be understood by persons reading them, unless it appears that they were used and understood in another sense."
The resolution, approved by City Prosecutor Jophee Avanceña, rejected Bello’s claim that he was not the administrator of the “Walden Bello” as he “failed to identify such person (administrator) in his counter-affidavit.”
Tupas formally filed a P10-million cyberlibel case complaint against Bello on March 7 after the former vice-presidential candidate posted online accusing the former CIO of being involved in a drug trade on November 6, 2021 in Mabini, Davao de Oro.
The former CIO denied Bello's accusation, although she confirmed her presence before the raid, which resulted in the arrest of 17 individuals for possession of illegal drugs. Tupas resigned, but at the same time, was also terminated following the incident.
In response, the resolution states that Bello said the post was a "call-out" to fellow vice presidential candidate, Outgoing Davao City Mayor and Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio for boycotting the CNN Vice Presidential debates.
The former lawmaker also explained that no crime of cyberlibel was committed because he was not the one who posted the article. In his defense, he said the Facebook page "Walden Bello" cannot be solely attributed to him as he does not have control nor maintains it, as it is being managed by administrator or moderator.
"[Bello said] The Facebook post was, likewise, not malicious. The statements thereon were only made in a ‘matter-of-factly tone’ based only on established facts and were posed in such a way as asking for questions," the resolution states.
The respondent also claimed he does not personally know the complainant nor he has personal ill will towards the latter.
He also alleges that malice cannot be presumed in the case since the complainant was a government employee being then the Public Information Officer (PIO) of Davao City.
"He likewise alleges that the instant complaint is politically motivated purposely to silence him," the resolution said, adding that "he was being singled out", and did not "bothered on filing libel cases against other news outfits" which was published in several news articles from where he got his information.
However, Cortez rejected Bello's defense of not being the administrator. He said the page has been verified by Facebook or Meta, as shown by the blue verified badge indicated at the end of the respondent's name, indicating that the page is an "authentic profile."
Bello also failed to provide information of the administrator who posted the article. Even if it's true, Cortez said, as a verified owner of the page, maintains the "exclusive control of whatever articles or contents published..."
"Taking into consideration the strict requirements of Facebook or Meta before a particular page can be verified and be given with a blue badge, it can be presumed that the respondent authored the subject online article," Cortez said.
Lawyer Caesar S. Europa, Tupas' lawyer, said in a text message to SunStar Davao that he will not provide any further statements in response to the CPO resolution.
“I’d prefer to let the resolution speak for itself,” Europa said.
Bello has not issued any statement as of writing. RGL