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Walden Bello hopeful Davao City prosecutors will be fair in cyber libel complaint

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Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Partido Lakas ng Masa Walden Bello ABS-CBN News." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/life/04/20/20220420-partido-lakas-ng-masa-vice-presidential-candidate-walden-bello-manman-dejeto-abs-cbn-news.jpg"/><figcaption>Partido Lakas ng Masa vice presidential candidate Walden Bello, accompanied by his lead counsel and senatorial bet Atty. Luke Espiritu, files his counter-affidavit at the City Prosecutor&#x27;s Office at the Hall of Justice in Davao City on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. Bello is facing a 10-Million cyberlibel case filed by former Davao City Information Officer Jefry Tupas over a statement on his alleged arrest during a drug raid last November 6, 2021, in Davao de Oro. Manman Dejeto, ABS-CBN News.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The camp of Partido Lakas ng Masa vice presidential bet Walden Bello has filed a counter-affidavit on the P10-million cyber libel complaint by the city&#x27;s former public information officer Jefry Tupas.Bello&#x27;s legal counsel, Atty. Luke Espiritu said while they are confident that the case is dismissible due to the &quot;patent merit of their defenses,&quot; they were also hoping Davao City officials would play fair.&quot;Sana itong piskal ng Davao magpakita ng independence dito, ‘pag i-file man sa court, magpakita ang judges ng independence dito ... It should be dismissible because of the patent merit of our defenses but we don’t know because itong Davao ay private property na ng Duterte dynasty,&quot; Espiritu told ABS-CBN in an interview. (We hope that Davao&#x27;s fiscal will show independence if it&#x27;s filed in court, the judge should show independence as well.)&quot;We don’t know kung gaano katinding influence pagdating sa city prosecutor’s office at sa regional trial courts natin. Sana maging independent … determined without fear or favor sa kaharian ng mga Duterte, sa Duterte monarchy that is installed in Davao,&quot; he added.(We don’t know how much influence it has when it comes to the city prosecutor’s office and our regional trial courts. I hope it would be independent … determined without fear or favor in the kingdom of the Dutertes, in the Duterte monarchy that is installed in Davao.)Espiritu said that Tupas was only mentioned once in the statement cited by the former Davao official noting that the post was meant to challenge Duterte-Carpio to answer the allegations she is facing. Tupas was alleged to be involved in a drug raid in Davao de Oro last November 6, 2021, while employed as Duterte-Carpio&#x27;s public information officer at that time. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/09/21/p15m-halaga-ng-mga-droga-nasabat-sa-davao-de-oro">P1.5M halaga ng mga droga nasabat sa Davao de Oro resort; 17 tiklo</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/09/21/sara-dutertes-info-officer-says-attended-party-later-raided-for-illegal-drugs">Sara Duterte&#x27;s info officer confirms presence in party later raided for illegal drugs</a></li></ul>Espiritu said the complaint must be dismissed because the material was not from Bello&#x27;s personal Facebook but from an online support group that posted a statement regarding vice presidential rival Sara Duterte&#x27;s refusal to participate in the debate.&quot;It’s only one out of those enumerated and tungkol kay Jefry Tupas. The intent of which is pretty obvious, ipaliwanag niya na bakit ang kanyang (former public information officer) ay nasangkot sa drug raid mismo sa Davao. That’s what it is. Is that libelous?&quot;(It’s only one out of those enumerated and about Jefry Tupas. The intent of which is pretty obvious, he explained why his (former public information officer) was involved in the drug raid itself in Davao. That’s what it is. Is that libelous?)Bello said his case would also show how Duterte-Carpio will handle dissent should she win as vice president. &quot;If this is the way that Sara Duterte has responded to a challenge from me to a reasonable challenge to participate in a debate, this already is an indication of the kind of way that she will respond to critics if she gets elected vice president ... This shows the kind of rule that she would be promoting and using in the event that she wins the elections,&quot; he said. &quot;I think we will be a move ahead if we win this case … I think if the Davao prosecutor in fact shows independence, I think the larger victory is a victory for democracy that the mere expression of opinion is not utilized in order to suppress people,&quot; Bello added. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2005883" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The camp of Partido Lakas ng Masa vice presidential bet Walden Bello has filed a counter-affidavit on the P10-million cyber libel complaint by the city's former public information officer Jefry Tupas.

Walden Bello hopeful Davao City prosecutors will be fair in cyber libel complaint

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Walden Bello hopeful Davao City prosecutors will be fair in cyber libel complaint

Josiah Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Apr 20, 2022 05:36 PM PHT

|

Updated Apr 20, 2022 07:16 PM PHT

Read More:

Halalan 2022

2022 elections

Walden Bello

Sara Duterte-Carpio

Jefry Tupas

cyberlibel

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