Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV denounced the arrest of a salesman who called President Duterte “buang” in a social media post, saying that “telling the truth is never libelous”.
The 41-year-old man from Nasipit town in Agusan del Norte identified as Reynaldo Cullo was tracked down and nabbed by authorities for posting as quoted, “ALAM NA PATTERN, MOSALIDA SI GO KONUHAY SIYA MOHANGYO SA BUANG NGA PANGULO, DIGONG GAGO. BUANG SI DIGONG” in his personal Facebook account.
Trillanes, a known critic of President Duterte, slammed the “illegal” arrest of the man who was charged for the alleged violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 in a statement released on his social media accounts.
“I strongly condemn the warrantless arrest of the person who called Duterte ‘buang’ in a social media post. That is clearly illegal and against the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech and of expression. Besides, telling the truth is never libelous,” said Trillanes.
He also called on the Philippine National police to “exercise due restraint and sound judgment in the performance of their duty, especially in these trying times”.
In a separate tweet, Trillanes also called President Duterte names.
In a press briefing on Saturday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the Palace would leave it to the authorities to handle the case of those arrested for allegedly maligning and threatening the president.
On Monday, a teacher was arrested after posting a tweet offering a P50 million bounty to kill President Duterte.
“We leave that to the authorities. Sila naman talaga ang nagpapatupad sa batas,” Roque said.
“Pero kapag mayroong maling ginawa ang mga awtoridad, eh kino-correct ng ibang ahensiya ng gobyerno gaya ng piskalya,” he added.
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