Bello asks Davao court to quash cyber libel raps

Former vice presidential candidate Walden Bello has filed a motion seeking to quash the libel case filed against him by a former Davao City employee.

Bello’s camp said the motion was filed on Monday, October 24 before the Davao City Regional Trial Court Branch 10.

“Wherefore, premises considered, it is prayed that the information for libel be quashed and the instant criminal cases be dismissed. Other reliefs, just and equitable under the premises, are likewise prayed for,” the motion read.

This is in connection with the two counts of violation of RA 10175 or the Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 2012 that former Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas filed against Bello.

Bello previously said in a Facebook post that Tupas was “nabbed at a beach party where she and her friends were snorting P1.5 million worth of drugs” when he was asking then-Mayor Sara Duterte to explain supposed “blots” on her record in Davao City.

Tupas, who admitted to attending the party, said she left after eating and prior to the operation that happened, where the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P1.5 million worth of drugs.

In the 15-page motion, Bello said that for the libel charges to stick, the allegations must be false with knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard as to truth or falsity.

“These matters are totally absent in the recitals of the Informations, hence, the same must be quashed,” the motion read.

“All the facts stated in the Informations simply boil down to the absence of actual malice, the standard applicable in the instant case,” it added.

Bello also argued that the Prosecution Office does not have any records establishing either knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard as to truth or falsity.

“There is, therefore, no way for the prosecution to simply amend the Informations and change their wordings… The only option left, in view of the fatal defects of the Informations, is to dismiss the instant case,” it said.

Meanwhile, Bello also questioned why Tupas had “zeroed on the accused [Bello]” and had not filed charges against media outfits if the case was a “genuine attempt to redress a wrong.”

Bello said Vice President Duterte also “painted” Tupas to be involved in the drug raid.

He cited a statement posted on the City Government of Davao Facebook page in November 2021 that stated that “Tupas, of the City Government of Davao was involved in a drug raid.”

“Based on all the news and reports circulating during the time of the subject statement of the respondent, any reasonable man could infer that complainant Tupas was indeed nabbed in a drug raid,” Bello said.

Meanwhile, Bello reiterated that the case is a “vendetta” against him for daring Duterte to appear for the vice presidential debates.

Duterte in a previous statement asked Bello to “stop blaming [her] for his fall from grace.” — BM, GMA News