FORMER Akbayan party list Rep. Walden Bello was freed from police custody yesterday afternoon, a day after he was arrested over cyber libel cases filed by a media officer of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Bello was released from a facility of the Quezon City Police District at around 5:15 p.m. after posting bail and after his camp secured a release order from Quezon City Judge Cecilyn Burgos Villavert.
Bello was arrested by Quezon City cops at his residence in Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City at around 5 p.m. last Monday on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by Villavert for two counts of cyber libel.
Bello’s camp posted a bail of P48,000 several hours before his release. But his lawyer, Luke Espiritu, still needed to secure a release order from Villavert.
Espiritu said Villavert’s staff had difficulty locating the judge. The release order came out past 4 p.m., leading to the eventual release of Bello after an overnight stay at Camp Karingal.
Shortly after his release, Bello thanked the QCPD for treating him well while under police custody.
Bello, who lost in the vice-presidential race during the elections last May, called as “unjust” the filing of the cyber libel charges against him by the camp of the Vice President.
“There is no good reason for it but political harassment. It’s clear that I was charged using her press relations officer so she wont answer questions about her record during the campaign period,” said Bello.
The charges were filed by Duterte’s media relations officer, Jefry Tupas, last March after Bello called him a “drug dealer.”
Tupas served as media officer of Duterte when she was still the Davao City mayor. But Tupas was terminated by the Davao City government in November last year after he figured in an anti-drug raid.
SARA SLAMS BELLO
Duterte slammed Bello for accusing her of persecuting him through the complaint filed by Tupas, saying the former lawmaker “took it so low and displayed a disgraceful version of himself, making him the perfect poster boy of someone we hope our children will not become when they grow up.
“Mr. Bello should focus on salvaging what remains of his dignity and self-respect, I am asking him to stop obsessing over me – and stop blaming me for his fall from grace,” Duterte said in a statement.
That Bello called the charge against him “silly,” Duterte said, “speaks volumes of Mr. Bello’s character – it was clearly derision of and an insult to the prosecutors and the time and effort they put in to uphold the rule of law.”
Instead of “deflecting blame,” Duterte said Bello is obviously “playing the victim of an imaginary case of political persecution and dragging me into his legal woes.
“I suggest that Mr. Bello be reminded of the fact that a civilized and democratic society does not respect hubris. The right to freedom of speech and expression does not protect anyone from defiling the name and reputation of others. I expected him to know that Filipinos have a distaste for those who commit crimes and commit crimes with impunity,” Duterte said.
When she was still a child, Duterte said her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, advised her never to listen to attacks against their family “and I took it to heart during my VP campaign.
“I never shared my spotlight with Walden Bello despite the offensives he launched against me. I was focused on drilling my education platform in all the rallies that I could muster. In fact, I have never filed a libel case in my life. Criticisms do not deserve even a backward glance because the accomplishments of Davao City under my leadership are already set in stone,” she said.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros called on the administration to ensure a “fair and transparent investigation” on Bello.
“I would like to express deep concern over the arrest of Former Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, a longtime comrade and friend. Walden is a leading public intellectual and a steadfast campaigner for justice and human rights. Critical voices like his are essential to any democracy,” Hontiveros said.
She said the country needs someone like Bello “whose genuine commitment to freedom and democracy is beyond question.”
“I would like to call on the administration to ensure a fair and transparent investigation,” she added.
Bello said his arrest was “pure political persecution.” — With Wendell Vigilia and Raymond Africa
