Teacher arrested for Duterte slay offer freed on bail

MANILA, Philippines — The public school teacher who was arrested for offering a P50-million reward to anyone who would kill President Duterte has posted bail for his temporary release.

Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 72 Judge Richard Paradeza ordered the release of teacher Ronnel Mas after posting the P72,000 bail set by the court, a copy of the release order sent to the media by the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) showed.

The judge set Mas’ arraignment and pre-trial on May 28.

Earlier this month, Mas was arrested by elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for joking on social media that he would give P50 million to anyone who would kill the President.

While the warrantless arrest was deemed invalid, the prosecutor who handled the case allowed the filing of charges of inciting to sedition against the teacher.

Assistant State Prosecutor Jeanette Dacpano ruled that the invalid arrest was “cured” when Mas admitted to the media that he wrote the subject social media post.

ACT described the order for Mas’ temporary release as an initial victory, but stressed that justice for the teacher has yet to be gained.