Jay Sonza arrested over cyberlibel case

WEEKEND BEHIND BARS Former broadcaster Jay Sonza submitted calmly to National Bureau of Investigation agents on Thursday. —SCREENGRAB FROM NBI

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation on Thursday evening arrested former broadcaster Jay Sonza over charges that he spread fake medical information questioning President Marcos’ fitness to fulfill his official duties.

NBI Director Melvin Matibag confirmed to the Inquirer that Sonza was arrested on the strength of a warrant issued by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court in connection with the criminal charges filed on Feb. 16 against Sonza and fellow vlogger Jeffrey Celiz, alias Ka Eric Celiz.

The charges claimed that Sonza and Celiz, through their video and social posts, spread false information about the President’s “severe sigmoid diverticulitis,” which supposedly required surgery.

READ: After Jay Sonza arrest, PCO vows to continue crackdown on fake news

In January, Marcos himself announced that he was diagnosed with diverticulitis, an intestinal inflammation, typically attributed to stress and aging. The president, who turns 69 in September, was prescribed antibiotics and a soft diet and was soon discharged.

But that resulted in weight loss that prompted online speculations, including those of Sonza and Celiz, who allegedly attached a forged CT scan report on stationary of the St. Luke’s Medical Center to bolster their claim that the President was physically unfit to continue in office.

The hospital has since denied the accuracy and authenticity of the medical test results that bear the hospital’s logo.

Sonza remained in NBI custody at press time. The NBI did not release information about Celiz, but he earlier announced that he would be seeking political asylum in Canada, purportedly because of “harassment.”

But Matibag said the NBI would also act immediately if an arrest warrant is issued for the vlogger.

Sonza’s lawyer, Mark Tolentino, questioned the “nonbailable” arrest warrant the court issued against his client since cyberlibel was usually bailable. He also questioned the “timing” of the arrest on the eve of the Labor Day holiday, which would prevent them from posting bail until May 4.

No bail until Monday

“The practical effect is undeniable—he is prevented from posting bail until the next working day, resulting in unnecessary and prolonged detention, especially since he is already 71 years old,” said Tolentino in a statement on Friday.

But Matibag said in an online interview on Friday that it is the court’s decision whether an arrest warrant is bailable, besides Sonza’s camp can lodge a motion for bail when the warrant is returned to the Pasig court on Monday. As for the timing of the arrest, the NBI director said the warrant was issued around 1 p.m. on Thursday, but NBI agents still had to locate the former broadcaster because he had several addresses listed under his name.

“[The NBI agents] still had to travel and look for him. How many addresses were listed on him, so it took until evening. It just so happened that today is a holiday, then Saturday, Sunday. We shouldn’t think about it like that,” Matibag said.

“It’s difficult for us to make conclusions based on the circumstances when we know that the direction of the NBI was just to implement a warrant of arrest that is legitimately issued by the proper court,” he added.

Matibag also said that the NBI is currently building a case against other personalities involved in spreading the President’s fake medical records.

Also in February, the NBI filed cyberlibel and unlawful publication complaints against vlogger Jack Argota, who argued that he only posted fake medical records of the President “to keep up with the trend” and that he got a copy of the record from various social media pages. /cb