NCCA official charged in court with 2 counts of cyber libel
Two counts of cyber libel have been filed in court against the official of the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) for allegedly maligning former Iloilo City mayor Jerry Treñas.
Charged before the Iloilo City regional trial court was Jose Nereo C. Lujan, a member of the executive council of NCCA’s National Committee on Monuments and Sites (NCAA-NCMS) and head of the Public Information and Community Affairs Office (PICAO) of the Iloilo provincial government.
Last Feb. 24, RTC Judge Judita Patriarca P. Nafarrete of Branch 38 issued an arrest order against Lujan who immediately surrendered and posted bail of P48,000 for each count of cyber libel.
Lujan was charged by the Iloilo City prosecutors with violations of Section 4(C)(4), Chapter II, of Republic Act No. 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, in relation to Articles 353 and 355 of the Revised Penal Code.
Prosecutor Caryl Kate Fabella-Genova III had earlier dismissed Lujan’s motion for reconsideration and recommended the filing of cyber libel charges against Lujan.
Fabella-Genova ruled there was sufficient evidence to hold Lujan accountable for his earlier Facebook posts against Treñas.
The case stemmed from the eight counts of cyber libel filed by Treñas against Lujan for allegedly damaging his reputation.
The prosecution said that Lujan’s posts were allegedly intended to embarrass Treñas by claiming that the former mayor was a leading traffic violator, supposedly citing an upset stomach as an excuse to get out of a gridlock.
Also cited by the prosecution was another post by Lujan who claimed that Treñas “could not go to heaven.” The picture of the former mayor was included in the post.
Of the eight counts of cyber libel filed by the prosecutor, only two were found with probable cause that warranted the issuance of an arrest order against Lujan.