Rodel Jayme pleads not guilty to inciting to sedition

Rodel Jayme, the man arrested for allegedly sharing anti-Duterte videos on his website, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to a charge of inciting to sedition.

Jayme entered the plea at his arraignment at the Parañaque Regional Trial Court Branch 258, where the Department of Justice had charged him with inciting to sedition in relation to the anti-cybercrime law, an offense punishable by a prison term of six to 12 years.

The 27-year-old Jayme admitted creating the metrobalita.net website, which the DOJ said was among the first to share a series of YouTube videos that implicated members of the First Family in the illegal drug trade. He, however, denied uploading the videos.

Justifying its charge, the DOJ said the posting of the videos is not an exercise of Jayme's freedom of speech and expression but a "clear act to arouse among its viewers a sense of dissatisfaction against the duly constituted authorities."

The court also ordered Jayme transferred to the Parañaque City Jail from the National Bureau of Investigation.

Jayme earlier expressed willingness to identify the persons behind the scheme. The NBI had said it may consider moving for the webmaster's discharge as a state witness.

Meanwhile, Peter Joemel Advincula, the man who claims to be the First Family's accuser "Bikoy" in the "Ang Totoong Narcolist" videos, has yet to face charges in connection with the allegations.

An admitted estafa convict supposedly released from prison in 2016, Advincula faces a new estafa complaint at the DOJ. —KBK, GMA News