Defeated vice-presidential candidate Walden Bello was arrested Monday, Aug. 8, by the police for two counts of cyberlibel in Quezon City.
The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) said that Bello, 76, a human rights activist, was arrested in his house in Barangay Holy Spirit at around 5 p.m.
The QCPD Project 4 Station (PS 8) served the arrest warrant against Bello for two counts of violation of Republic Act 10175 (The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012) issued on Aug. 8 by Judge Retrina Espe Fuentes, presiding judge of Davao City Regional Trial Court, 11th Judicial Region, Branch 10, with bail amounting to P48,000 each.
The cases stemmed from the complaints filed by former Davao City Information Officer Jefry Tupas in March 2022.
Tupas said Bello accused him of being involved in illegal drugs trade.
The Laban ng Masa chairperson was first brought to the PS 8 before he was transferred to the QCPD Headquarters in Camp Karingal.
QCPD director Brig. Gen. Remus Medina said that Bello’s arrest was peaceful and that he will be processing the bail for the charges on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
The QCPD said the court that issued the warrant will be notified of the arrest of Bello.
Bello was the running mate of former presidential candidate Leody de Guzman in the May 2022 elections.
Read more: Losing VP aspirant Walden Bello indicted for two counts of libel