Journalist arrested for cybercrime cases filed by Ilocos mayor

MANILA, Philippines — Police yesterday arrested an online journalist on cybercrime charges.

Oswaldo Carbonell, also a political commentator, was arrested by a team from the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at a mall in Pasay City.

He was arrested based on six separate arrest warrants in violation of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 issued by Laoag City, Ilocos Norte Regional Trial Court Branch15 under Presiding Judge Bonhoefer Vergara dated Oct. 21, 2021.

Bail is set at P72,000 per case.

Piddig, Ilocos Norte Mayor Eduardo Guillen filed the cases against the 79-year-old Carbonell after he reported the local official’s graft case on his YouTube page.

In a YouTube video last month, Carbonell said the mayor filed the charges because he did not get his side before publishing the videos.

“The mayor charged me for not getting his side on his graft case and accused me of not being fair,” he said in Filipino in a video uploaded in December.

“But I know my rights. It is his right to that I ask him, but it is also my right not to ask him because I know his case,” he added in the video.

In a Facebook post, Carbonell said the police approach was “good.”

“They were just doing their job, because of the warrant of arrest coming from Piddig, Ilocos Norte,” the post read.

Carbonell was brought to the CIDG Northern District Field Unit office for documentation and booking procedure.