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NBI files new raps vs. Francis Leo Marcos


Internet personality Francis Leo Marcos faces new complaints over his supposed alias and a video where he dared his affluent neighbors to donate to people in need amid the COVID-19 crisis, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Thursday.

NBI cybercrime division chief Victor Lorenzo said the bureau has filed complaints against Marcos for violation of the anti-alias law and the passport law as well as for inciting to sedition in relation to paragraph 4 of Article 139 of the Revised Penal Code.

Article 139, on sedition, lists five objectives of the crime of sedition; paragraph 4 is "to commit, for any political or social end, any act of hate or revenge against private persons or any social class."

Lorenzo said Marcos, who is still detained at the NBI after being arrested earlier this week, is due for inquest Thursday afternoon. Marcos was arrested on the strength of an arrest warrant for an alleged violation of the optometry law.

He is accused of distributing eyeglasses without the approval of the Philippine association of optometrists.

On the new complaints, Lorenzo said Marcos' real name is Norman Mangusin and that he does not have a judicial declaration that he has changed his name to Francis Leo Marcos. He said the businessman has also submitted a passport using the alias.

Lorenzo claimed that the bureau saw elements of inciting to sedition in Marcos' viral video in which he challenged his neighbors to donate to their fellow Filipinos.

He explained in Filipino that the YouTuber's claim that wealthy residents in Green Meadows Subdivision were not helping was said in a way that "incites inflicting hatred" towards them.

A copy of the complaint was not immediately available.

Complaints filed before the Department of Justice are evaluated by prosecutors, who will determine whether or not to file charges against the respondent in court.

The NBI earlier said they are verifying charges against Marcos for qualified human trafficking and violence against women. — BM, GMA News

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