Sotto sues blogger for cyber-libel over ‘Malacañang lapdogs’ tag vs senators
Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III arrives at Pasay prosecutor’s office to file cyber-libel charge vs Silent No More blog admin, Cocoy Dayao. INQUIRER / Dexter Cabalza
Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III filed on Tuesday a cyber-libel complaint against Edward Angelo “Cocoy” Dayao – the person allegedly behind the an anti-Duterte blog “Silent No More PH” – before the Pasay City Prosecutors Office.
Sotto filed the complaint after a “Silent No More PH” blog post called him and six other senators as “Malacañang lapdogs” for not signing a resolution condemning the killing of minors in the Duterte administration’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs.
The senator, with members of the National Bureau of Investigation, personally filed his complaint before Pasay City assistant prosecutor Serafin Salazar.
Sotto said Dayao violated Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Section 4(c)4 of Republic Act No. 10175, or the Cybercrime Law.
“Tinuluyan ko na talaga [magsampa ng kaso],” Sotto said, saying he was hurt by the malicious statements against him on the blog.
(I really went ahead and filed the case.)
“I represent the other members of the Senate. This is not just about me or my family, but for the future of my grandchildren and my fellow senators,” he added.
The NBI Cybercrime Division traced that Dayao is the owner of Silentnomoreph.com and 23 other web pages.
On Sept. 26, Silentnomoreph.com and its Facebook page published an article assailing seven majority senators who did not sign a resolution calling for an investigation on the killings of minors.
The article titled, “Malacañang Dogs in the Senate,” called names on Sotto and his colleagues Koko Pimentel, Dick Gordon, Cynthia Villar, Migs Zubiri, Gringo Honasan and Manny Pacquiao.
In particular, it called Sotto “the rapist, plagiarist, and bigot who called all single mothers as good for thing but accidental whores.”
Sotto said his actions should serve as a lesson for people “not to be judgmental.”
“Magcriticize tayo nang nasa lugar. Hindi yung malisyoso at nakakasira ng integridad ng mga tao,” he said.
(Let’s criticize appropriately. Not maliciously and not destroying a person’s integrity.)
The senator explained: “An apology means nothing. Anong gusto mong makuha ng taong bayan natin, na ‘pag merong siniraan at pinagmumura at ‘pag tapos ay magsosorry ka lang, okay na? Kailangan ng kaukulang parusa.”
(What do you want the public to have, that when someone is tarnishing your name and cursing you and when they say sorry, then everything will be okay? There needs to be punishment.) /kga, je
