Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denied accusations that she had a hand in the arrest of her former vice-presidential rival Walden Bello, which stemmed from a cyberlibel case filed by a former Davao City official now working for the Office of the Vice President.
"I never shared my spotlight with Walden Bello despite the offensives he launched against me. I was focused on drilling my education platform in all the rallies that I could muster. In fact, I have never filed a libel case in my life. Criticisms do not deserve even a backward glance because the accomplishments of Davao City under my leadership are already set in stone," said Duterte, who is also the Education Secretary, in a statement.
Bello was arrested by the Quezon City Police District on Monday night for two counts of cyber libel.
"Instead of deflecting blame, playing the victim of an imaginary case of political persecution, and dragging me into his legal woes, I suggest that Mr. Bello be reminded of the fact that a civilized and democratic society does not respect hubris," she added.
"Mr. Bello should focus on salvaging what remains of his dignity and self-respect, I am asking him to stop obsessing over me — and stop blaming me for his fall from grace."
According to Bello, Duterte is the "moving force" behind the charges and accused the vice president's camp of having "weaponized the law."
"The cyberlibel charge against me was a vindictive response to questions I raised about Vice President Duterte's performance as mayor of Davao that she was expected to answer as a candidate for higher office," Bello said.
"Instead of engaging in democratic exchange, her camp weaponized the law by filing a cyberlibel case against me, declared me persona non grata in Davao, and branded me a narcopolitician," he added.
The longtime activist also noted that “this is not the behavior of a democratic personality, but of one who has little respect for freedom of speech and knows only the art of intimidation.”
“Flowery rhetoric will not disguise Sara Duterte’s assault on a fundamental democratic right. She should act in a manner that befits a vice president and cease disgracing herself and her office by her futile defense of an indefensible act,” he added.
To recall, the cyber libel case against Bello was filed by Duterte’s former information officer Jefry Tupas, which seeks PHP 10 million in damages after the former had allegedly called her a drug addict and dealer.
