THE vice mayor of Reina Mercedes town in Isabela yesterday surrendered to a Manila court after it issued a warrant for his arrest stemming from the cyber libel case filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Lawyer Jeryll Harold Paz Respicio
Respicio told reporters he voluntarily went to Branch 34 of the Manila Regional Trial Court after learning of the arrest warrant against him for alleged violation of Article 134 of the Revised Penal Code.
“Ito po ay isang process para hindi ka na hulihin at hindi ka na i-commit sa loob ng kulungan, pwede ka mag-voluntary surrender at magbayad ng bail (This is a process so that you will no longer be arrested and committed to jail, you can voluntarily surrender and pay the bail),” he said.
Respicio said he would post bail, set by the court at P32,000 for each of the two counts of cyber libel case filed by the poll body.
Respicio won the vice mayoralty race in the May 12 elections, with 6,042 votes.
The poll body suspended his proclamation due to a pending disqualification case filed by the commission itself last February in relation to videos allegedly posted by Respicio on social media claiming that he could manipulate the results of the election through what he said is a “backroom program.”
The Comelec said Respicio’s videos violated Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 which, among others, make the publishing of false information that could incite panic or disrupt public order punishable by law.
The poll body’s Task Force Katotohanan, Katapatan at Katarungan sa Halalan used the said social media videos as the basis in filing the case before the Manila RTC.
