ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — A court here ordered the release from detention of a critic of Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. after he posted bail totaling P50,000.
In an order, Judge Mark Anthony Polonan of the Iloilo City Municipal Trial Court (RTC) on Saturday directed the release of blogger and radio block time host Manuel Mejorada.
Mejorada, 60, former Iloilo provincial administrator, was set to leave the St. Paul’s Hospital Iloilo on Sunday where he was taken after he was arrested in his house in Pavia town, Iloilo province, on Friday.
Police arrested Mejorada based on an arrest warrant issued on June 4 by Judge Victorino Maniba Jr. of the Iloilo City RTC.
He was handcuffed and brought to the Pavia police but was later taken to the hospital after his blood pressure shot up.
Mejorada decried the manner of his arrest, saying he was taken on Friday evening by fully armed policemen. “It is apparent that the arrest was planned to humiliate me and to make me spend a night in jail,” he said in a statement.
He also said his arrest was “meant to intimidate and discourage” him from exposing alleged irregularities in the landscaping project being implemented at the Iloilo provincial capitol.
Mejorada was earlier indicted for five counts of cyberlibel in relation to his social media posts against Defensor. He had called the governor in his posts “the worst among the corrupt” and a “dishonorable man.”
In his counter affidavit, Mejorada said his posts fall under purview of fair comment on the governor’s official acts.
During the May 13 election campaign, Mejorada hosted radio block time programs criticizing Defensor and the latter’s son and namesake, Iloilo representative and governor-elect, Arthur Defensor Jr. —Nestor Burgos Jr.