Netizen denies posting Gwen bounty; probe starts
Billy Joe Julio Magdadaro, 38, and a resident from Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, denies that he owned the Facebook account Billy Joe Magdadaro that published posts offering P10 million bounty on Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia. | Photos courtesy of Sugbo News via Alven Timtim and Morexette Erram
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police in Cebu are investigating the posts circulating on social media offering a P10 million bounty to anyone who can kill Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
But an individual, who bore a similar name with the account caught publishing the posts, came forward to the police to ‘clear things out’.
Billy Joe Julio Magdadaro, 38, and a resident of Barangay Subangdaku, Mandaue City, denied that he owned the Facebook account Billy Joe Magdadaro that published the posts.
Magdadaro said he went to the Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit at the compound of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), located in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City, to clear his name.
He added that he owned a Facebook account with a different username and that he was unaware of someone using his name to create malicious posts against Garcia.
“Wala koy idea. Ang nagpindut ra sad nako ang mga amigo ug amiga… Wala gyud koy idea (sa usa ka account)… Niadto ko sa Police Station 2 (Mandaue City) para mareport unya gi-recomendar ko nga idagan ari (Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit). Mao to nga ni-ari gyud ko,” Magdadaro told reporters of Capitol-ran Sugbo News in a live press interview on Friday, June 26.
(I have no idea. My friends told me about it. I am not aware of the other account. I went to Police Station 2 in Mandaue City to report and then they recommended for me to report it instead to the Anti-Cybercrime Unit.)
On Thursday evening, June 25, posts from a certain Facebook user identified as Billy Joe Magdadaro, offering a P10 million bounty on Garcia, went viral on social media.
“10 million reward sa makapatay ni Gov. Gwen Garcia. Lockdown Cebu City giatay! (A P10-million reward for anyone who can kill Gov. Gwen Garcia. Cebu City is on lockdown, damn!),” it said.
The Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit, for their part, said they were now investigating the incident.
The team of investigators told reporters in a separate interview that they were still gathering information and details to check if Magdadaro’s claims were true. /dbs
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