Complaints for at least ten counts of cyber libel have been filed by Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI 7) against two netizens, Michael Deen Cano aka “Deen Chase” in Facebook and Efren Omayan aka “Dong Efren” in Facebook.
The complaints stemmed from Cano’s post on Facebook accusing Gov. Gwen of many crimes, including corruption and abuse, extortion, and conflict of interest without providing any proof. Such malicious imputations were then shared by Omayan on his own Facebook Page.
“Yes, you are free to criticize. But you are not free to spread false and reckless accusations against the Governor,” said Gov. Gwen’s private lawyer, Atty. Alex Avisado Jr., senior partner at the Makati-based Gana, Atienza, Avisado Law Firm.
Atty. Avisado made the disclosure during a press conference at the Governor’s Office on April 21. He was flanked by private practitioners Atty. Rose Ann Rosales Vasquez and Atty. Desiree Perles, as well as Capitol consultant Atty. Jong Sepulveda.
Atty. Sepulveda said Gov. Gwen has been on the receiving end of a coordinated attack using false and malicious information, especially now that the election is just around the corner and survey results show that the Governor is very much in the lead.
“If you criticize the Governor in connection with her performance as Governor, you’re covered by protected speech. Freedom of expression yan, and the Governor respects that. And she welcomes that kasi fair criticism. Pero ito, iba na ’to. This is already an abuse of freedom of expression,” Atty. Avisado said.
Atty. Vasquez said the complaints are filed at the NBI 7 because its cybercrime division is in the best position to verify the identities of the accused, including tracing their whereabouts.
However, she said that even now, they already have secured the evidence and have sufficient information against the accused, down even to the kind of mobile phones they are using when posting online or the number of dummy accounts they may have created which helped spread the malicious information.
“Itong mga ganitong posts are no longer covered by freedom of expression. Kahit na public official si Gov. Gwen Garcia, because all these posts are personal, hindi lang personal, all these posts are false, malicious. Puro ito mali, puro ito kasinungalingan,” Atty. Avisado said.
The Governor’s legal team also advised the public to be very discerning in their social media engagements, to always fact-check, and to avoid sharing unverified information because it may have legal consequences.
“Ang appeal namin sa lahat nga mga tao sa Cebu, lahat ng mga active sa social media, be very discerning. Mag-fact check kayo. Wag kayong mag-share ng mga public posts na hindi naman ninyo na-validate, hindi ninyo na-verify, because by sharing, you are equally liable for violation ng cybercrime law,” Atty. Avisado said. | IPA with Sugbo News team
