Osmeña, Repollo sue Garganera for cyberlibel

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera is facing two counts of cyberlibel before the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office.

The case filed by Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Inayawan Barangay Captain Kirk Bryan Repollo stemmed from the councilor’s Facebook post on March 3, 2019 pertaining to the stoppage of the proposed satellite office of Pardo Police Station in Inayawan.

Garganera said the mayor “stopped” the construction of the project for reasons “only him and the present barangay captain can explain.”

In the same post, Garganera said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Police Station 7 seized seven kilos of shabu worth P120 million in Fatima Homes, Inayawan, which is near to the proposed satellite police station.

Osmeña and Repollo, in a complaint dated March 27, said Garganera’s post earned unwanted comments, calling them as “drug protectors.”

“With the said Facebook post of Joel Capili Garganera, his acts fully constituents the crime of libel as defined in the Revised Penal Code but committed through the use of electronic means, thus, liable for the Violation of RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 specifically Section 4 ( C ) ( 4 ),” portion of the complaint read.

“It is not true that we blocked the construction of a police station in Barangay Inayawan. In fact, we tried to negotiate for the said project to continue. However, Garganera baselessly and groundlessly imputed that we blocked the same to create a situation that we are protecting the activities of an illegal drug trade in Barangay Inayawan to which the public understood it as it is,” it added.

According to Osmeña and Repollo, Police Regional Office-Central Visayas Director Brigadier Debold Sinas issued a statement linking Repollo to illegal drug trade following Garganera’s post.

The officials said the act of Garganera constitutes four elements of cyberlibel, such as defamatory imputation, publication, identification of the person libeled, and malice.

They demanded P1 million in moral damages.

Garganera was ordered by the prosecutor’s office to file his counter-affidavit within 10 days from the receipt of the complaint. The subpoena dated April 10 was received by Garganera yesterday.

The councilor, in an interview yesterday, said he is confident the case will eventually be dismissed.

He said his Facebook post was just “narrative of facts.”

 “I pity the barangay captain of Inayawan, he is supposed to be a lawyer and he should know the law. And it seems that he allow himself to be dictated by the mayor. Nawala ang iyahang pagka abogado,” Garganera said.

Repollo, for his part, said the case will prosper since they provided all the pieces of evidence.

“It will prosper with all the evidence provided which will disprove all of Garganera’s baseless allegations,” he said. — KBQ (FREEMAN)