Team DailyPedia
An official of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is currently facing two counts of cyberlibel for allegedly maligning former Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Judge Judita Patriarca Nafarrete of the Iloilo City Regional Trial Court Branch 38 issued a warrant of arrest against Jose Nereo Lujan, a member of the Executive Council of the NCCA National Committee on Monuments and Sites (NCMS) and the concurrent head of the Public Information and Community Affairs Office (PICAO) of the Iloilo Provincial Government.
Lujan surrendered to authorities and posted bail of P48,000 for each count to secure his temporary liberty.
Prosecutor Caryl Kate Fabella-Genova III earlier dismissed Lujan’s motion for reconsideration and recommended the filing of cyberlibel charges against the NCCA official, stressing that there was sufficient evidence to hold him accountable for his earlier Facebook posts against Treñas.
The case stemmed from the eight counts of cyberlibel filed by Treñas against Lujan for allegedly damaging his reputation.
In her decision, Fabella-Genova said that Lujan’s posts were allegedly intended to embarrass Treñas by claiming that the former mayor was a leading traffic violator, supposedly citing an upset stomach as an excuse to get out of a gridlock.
The prosecutor also mentioned another post by Lujan claiming that Treñas could not go to heaven, accompanied by a picture of the mayor.
Of the eight counts, only two were approved by Judge Nafarrete for the issuance of warrants of arrest.
