Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera (left) and Mayor Tomas Osmeña (right).
CEBU CITY, Philippines–Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera filed a cyberlibel case against Mayor Tomas Osmeña for allegedly maligning her name on Facebook for the last three years.
In a phone interview with Cebu Daily News Digital (CDND), Pesquera said she finally decided to file the cyberlibel case since it was not only an attack against her but also to the name of her family.
She filed the criminal case at the Office of the City Prosecutor on Friday, March 1, and is expected to file an administrative case at the Office of the Ombudsman for Conduct Unbecoming of a Public Official in the coming days.
Pesquera said that Osmeña, on his Facebook page “Tommy Osmeña,” has been calling her a member of “Team Suyop,” which she said has become detrimental to her cause in encouraging youths to stay away from drugs.
“How can I tell the youth to avoid drugs if they have associated me with ‘Team Suyop’? I never used drugs,” said Pesquera.
She said that the mayor allegedly maligned her more than ten times in the last three years.
Pesquera said she could no longer allow the mayor to continually besmirch her name with false accusations that she said had no other basis but “malicious intent.”
According to Pesquera, at least three supporters of Osmeña whom she also accused of cyberlibel have been served warrants of arrest.
She did not reveal the identities of the three suspects but said that one of them used to work for the city government during the first year of her present term as councilor.
Pesquera said her filing of the case is not a political move and not related to the May 13 elections.
Osmeña is running for reelection under Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) while Pesquera is running for representative of Cebu City’s south district under Barug-PDP-Laban against Osmeña’s ally, incumbent Representative Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa.
CDND tried to reach Osmeña for comment but messages sent to him remained unanswered. /elb
