MANILA, Philippines (Updated 10:41 a.m.) — The Department of Justice confirmed Thursday that authorities have arrested the individual who allegedly uploaded the anonymous videos of a certain “Bikoy” who tagged the Dutertes to the narcotics trade.
In a message sent to reporters, Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete, also DOJ spokesperson, told reporters: "It was the person who uploaded the video who was arrested for cybercrime, specifically cyberlibel."
No details of the arrest have been made public yet, as the DOJ said it is waiting for the report of the National Bureau of Investigation.
Arrest by virtue of search warrant
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirmed that “a search warrant was issued and served.”
Guevarra also told reporters to wait for more details on the pieces of evidence or paraphernalia that were seized in the possession of the suspect.
It remains unclear where the search warrant stemmed from.
The NBI, for its part, confirmed that it has a person of interest in custody, but details would be given in a press conference scheduled tentatively on Friday.
The Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure provides that when a person was arrested without a warrant on an offense that requires preliminary investigation, “the complaint or information may be filed by a prosecutor without need of such investigation provided an inquest has been conducted.”
Matrix
“Bikoy” was central to the ouster plot “matrix” released by Malacañang that linked three news organizations and the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers to an alleged plan to unseat President Rodrigo Duterte.
Police and the military earlier said they have not monitored any specific threat to oust the president. But Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde said they would look into the personalities named in the matrix.
The journalist groups and the NUPL denied the allegation and pointed out the errors in the matrix that was supposedly vetted by none other than the president himself.
On Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it is “totally unnecessary” to prove the matrix.
“The matrix shows that there is an ouster plot. It is just a plot, a plan, an idea,” he said.
Panelo, when he first presented the matrix to media on April 22, said that the reporters should believe it because “the president is the source.”
Duterte received information from a “foreign country” that Panelo refused to name.