Walden Bello lawyer wants cyber libel case out of Davao

Labor lawyer Luke Espiritu, the lead counsel of former vice presidential candidate Walden Bello, on Wednesday expressed wish for his client's cyber libel case to be moved out of the Davao courts, saying he doubts their neutrality.

“We must find a different court. We cannot expect the Davao Courts to be neutral. That is controlled by the Duterte dynasty. So we must first ensure that we have a neutral court,” Espiritu said in a press conference.

“Therefore, we would have to ask the Supreme Court to transfer the venue of the case, because we do not expect justice to be administered in Davao,” he added.

On Monday afternoon, Bello was arrested at his residence in Quezon City over a case filed by former Davao City chief information officer Jefry Tupas.

Bello stayed overnight at Camp Karingal and was released on Tuesday afternoon.

The case stemmed from a post that stated that Tupas was “nabbed at a beach party where she and her friends were snorting P1.5 million worth of drugs” on Bello’s Facebook page while he was asking Vice President Sara Duterte to explain “blots” on her record in Davao City.

Tupas had admitted attending the party but said she left after eating and before the operation happened. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency seized P1.5 million worth of drugs during the operation.

According to Espiritu, this was also a warning to Duterte, bringing up her record during her time as the mayor of Davao City. Espiritu also alleged that she “weaponized” libel.

Duterte, for her part, has previously told Bello to leave her out of the issue.

“Kaya ito ay isang warning din sa kanila, Sara Duterte at sa kanyang team. Hindi one way ang laban… Sumusuntok kayo hindi naman tumatakbo ang mga kalaban ninyo and it will always open the floodgates na ito ay babalik rin sa inyo,” he said.

“So, therefore, tingnan-tingnan ninyo ang inyong mga taktika na wine-weaponize ninyo ang libel ninyo para kalabanin ang mga tumutuligsa o nag cri-criticize ng inyong official conduct,” he added.

Espiritu later said that truth must be established in libel.

“We are entitled to show the truth, to subpoena your records, to subpoena your records before the police na nag carry on ng drug raid, to subpoena PDEA. What happened after the drug raid? Why was she not arrested?” he said.

“To subpoena ‘yung mga nandoon na naaresto after testifying, and even subpoena Sara Duterte herself. We can do that. Kayo ang nag bukas eh, diba? Nilagay niyo dito sa venue na ito ang usapan, eh di dito natin pagusapan,” he added.

GMA News Online sought the reaction of presiding Judge Retrina Fuentes of the Davao City court, which issued the warrant, and the Supreme Court, but has yet to get a response as of posting time.—LDF, GMA News