Senate panel to subpoena blogger Cocoy Dayao

The Senate public information committee will subpoena blogger Cocoy Dayao to its next hearing on fake news, Senator Grace Poe said Tuesday.

Dayao is said to be behind the “Silent No More PH” blog, which previously lambasted several senators for supposedly refusing to sign a Senate resolution urging the administration to address the spate of senseless killings, especially of children.

Dayao has been invited by the Senate committee in its first hearing last October but was a no-show. He again did not show up in the Tuesday hearing, prompting Senator Manny Pacquiao to request for the issuance of a subpoena.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III has filed a cyber-libel rap against Dayao in November last year.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the case was already submitted for resolution.

Manuel Eduarte, chief of the NBI cyber crime division, said they have so far proven that Dayao is the managing director and editor-in-chief of another blog named ProPinoy.net. The said information, however, is already posted on the page of ProPinoy.net.

Bloggers Noemi Dado and Tonyo Cruz meanwhile said during the hearing that Dayao was unlikely behind the Silent No More PH page.

“I’ve seen him write for many years. He doesn’t write Tagalog,” Dado told the committee.

Cruz said senators were fed with the wrong information. “Dito sa akusasyon ng mga DDS [Duterte Diehard Supporters] bloggers na fineed sa inyo, I’m sorry senator, pero baka na-mislead kayo ng mga taong nag-inform sa inyo sa Cocoygate.”

“Kung mapatunayan by some hocus pocus na si Cocoy Dayao ang web administrator, domain name registrar, and Google Adsense owner ng mga ito, wala sila ni isa mapapakita na katunayan na siya 'yung author noon, na siya 'yung nagsulat,” Cruz said.

Poe said Dayao should be the one who should appear before the committee to refute the allegations against him.

Meanwhile, Poe said the Senate committee will also issue subpoenas to social media website Facebook and search engine Google to its next hearing. —KG, GMA News