Warrants of arrest issued against LTO-Region 7 chief for four counts of cyber libel

CEBU CITY – The Pagadian City Regional Trial Court has issued four warrants of arrest against the chief of the Land Transportation Office-Central Visayas (LTO 7) in connection with the four counts of cyber libel filed against him.

Pagadian City RTC Branch 20 Presiding Judge Dennis P. Vicoy issued the four warrants of arrest against LTO 7 regional director Victor Emmanuel Caindec on Sept. 9, 2021.

cases before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Pagadian City, Zamboanga Del Sur.

Caindec posted bail in the amount of P48,000 per case. He is set for arraignment on May 18, 2022 at the RTC Branch 20 in Pagadian City, Zamboanga Del Sur.

Cebu City RTC Executive Judge Marlon Jay Moneva issued the Order of Release of Caindec on September 13, 2021.

The issuance of arrest warrants against Caindec stemmed from the complaints that DES Strong Motors, Inc., represented by Miguel Potane and Michael Ranada Jr., filed against him.

The complainants alleged that in a post of LTO Facebook page, Caindec accused five motorcycle companies of cheating their customers.

On the March 10, 2020 press conference posted on the LTO Facebook page, Caindec identified the companies as Du Ek Sam, DES Marketing, DES Strong, DESMark and Premio.

In a separate Facebook live session on June 19, 2020, the complainants alleged that Caindec insinuated that DES Strong has become a billionaire by cheating and is cheating the government a billion in taxes.

Also on July 18, 2020, the complainants alleged that Caindec went live on his Facebook account where he allegedly insinuated that DES Strong bribed public officials.

The complainants also accused Caindec of referring DES Strong as tax evaders in a post of ‘Mugstoria Ta’ on July 30, 2020.

In a resolution dated August 19, 2021, Pagadian City Prosecutor Domingo Santiago M. Briones approved the recommendation of Deputy City Prosecutor Cleto M. Edralin that four separate information for violation of Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 be filed before the Cyber Crime court against Caindec.

Caindec filed an Omnibus Motion to Dismiss which the court denied.

The in-court arraignment and pre-trial was earlier set on March 23, 2022 but was reset after Caindec filed his Motion for Reinvestigation citing as ground violation of due process at the prosecutorial level.

The court on April 21, 2022 again denied the Motion for Reinvestigation for lack of merit.

The court said that while the accused may have sensed that there was violation of his right to due process at the prosecutorial level, he should have done his remedy pursuant to Department of Justice Department Circular No. 70 which shall be done within the reglementary period allowed if only to afford expeditious and efficient administration of justice.

“Sadly, this was not followed with, and this has already foreclosed his statutory right to do do,” Vicoy said.

Vicoy emphasized that once an information has been filed in court, “the court is the best and sole judge on how to dispose of the criminal case and the court has to abide by the speedy disposition of the cases.”