CEBU, Philippines — A businessman was arrested Wednesday for cyber libel after he allegedly accused Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino of selling donated items from Korea to the Cebu City government.
The operatives of Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit (RACU)-7 arrested Santiago Go, 44, a resident of Golden Sun Drive in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City, based on the warrant of arrest issued on January 25, 2021 by Judge Ramon Daomilas of the Regional Trial Court Branch 11 in Cebu City. The court has recommended P10,000 bail for his temporary liberty.
"Nakadawat ta sa iyang warrant of arrest, we conducted surveillance, na sigh-tan man nato ni sya gahapon (Wednesday), so gidiskartehan ni sya ug serve," said RACU-7 chief Police Lt. Colonel Artemio Ricabo.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by Dino after Go allegedly posted in “Golfers Farm-Cebu Country Club” viber group defamatory statement against him and the foundation named after his deceased mother.
In his post, Go claimed that Dino through the Cristina Lee Dino Foundation sold several donated PCR machine test kits from Korea to the city government. Go refused to issue statement to the media.
Ricabo, however, said that Go told them that he did not have any intention to malign Dino and his late mother.
"Wala daw siyay intention to damage the secretary...wala daw siyay dautang intention, mura’g nadala lang siya sa iyang emotion" Ricabo told reporters.
According to Ricabo, what happened to Go should serve as a lesson to everyone to be prudent in making comments online.
"Lesson learned ni sa nga tawo nga mahilig mag post, mag-comment (og) negative sa atong isi’g katawo without knowing nga naay violation sa balaod," said Ricabo.
Lawyer Deolito Alvarez, Dino’s counsel, said his client reached out and demanded an apology from Go but the latter refused prompting them to file a complaint.
“It was not until that this businessman refused to a friendly persuasion that this cyber libel was filed. It was then that Secretary Dino filed this case to protect the name of his deceased mother,” Alvarez said.
“Every deceased mother anywhere in the world has the right to be protected from defamation. And it’s a Christian obligation of all sons and children of the world to protect the precious image of our mothers,” he added. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, FPL (FREEMAN)