ILOILO City – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested former Iloilo provincial administrator and blogger Manuel “Boy” Mejorada, who was convicted for four counts of libel filed by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon.
In a social media post, Mejorada’s partner Ruby confirmed his arrest by the NBI special operations group around 9:20 a.m. on Monday.
“He was treated well, according to him. He will be turned over to the NBI detention center this afternoon. He was arrested on the basis of a warrant of arrest to serve his sentence for the libel conviction with Drilon as complainant,” Ruby wrote.
Mejorada’s partner thanked supporters on his behalf and asked them to pray for him.
“Maligaya (na) ngayon si Drilon. Mapapatahimik si Boy,” Ruby added.
Early this year, the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 118 in Pasay City ordered the arrest of Mejorada.
The warrant of arrest was issued by Presiding Judge Rowena Nieves A. Tan. It was dated Dec. 10, 2019 yet and referred to the Iloilo City Police Office, National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police for service.
It was released some six months after the Supreme Court affirmed with finality Mejorada’s conviction.
In a resolution dated June 10, 2019 the Supreme Court’s Second Division affirmed a Sept. 18, 2018 decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) upholding the RTC’s conviction of Mejorada for four counts of libel.
The CA affirmed with modification the RTC decision, and sentenced Mejorada in each of the cases to suffer imprisonment of two years and four months and one day, as minimum, to four years and two months, as maximum, to be served simultaneously.
Drilon hauled Mejorada to court in 2014 for four social media and blog posts accusing the legislator of irregularities in three construction projects:
* circumferential road in Pavia, Iloilo
* Iloilo Convention Center in Mandurriao, Iloilo City
* Guimaras-Iloilo Ferry Terminal
RTC Branch 188 convicted Mejorada in 2017. The case was elevated to the CA then to the Supreme Court.
At the CA, the appellate court upheld the RTC’s finding that the subject articles were defamatory.
“They provided no details of the acts supposedly committed by Senator Drilon but repeatedly accused him instead of manipulating the procurement process of the several projects,” the CA ruling said. “They were, truth be told, plain and simple baseless accusations.”
It noted that Mejorada “never presented any proof of his claims.”
Elevated to the Supreme Court, the high court’s resolution on the case stated: “After a judicious study, the Court resolves to deny the instant petition and affirm the Sept. 18, 2018 decision and the March 7, 2019 resolution of the Court of Appeals.”
“As correctly ruled by the CA, the elements of libel were sufficiently established by the prosecution,” it added.
Drilon welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court.
“I have nothing else to leave behind except my reputation, so I am grateful for this favorable decision,” Drilon said.
The High Court further said “it was not necessary to establish that the publication was motivated by any malice since the articles were not privileged communication or fair comments; thus, malice is presumed.”
The High Court also agreed with the CA in affirming the penalty of imprisonment rather than a fine.
“The Court did not remove the discretion of the trial courts to impose imprisonment if, under the circumstances, a fine was insufficient to meet the demands of substantial justice or would depreciate the seriousness of the offense,” the court said./PN
