On Tuesday, April 22, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia filed 10 complaints of cyber libel against two vloggers before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). This, after the NBI also filed criminal complaints against another Cebu-based vlogger on Monday, April 21.
Garcia’s legal team said that the governor filed the complaints against Michael “Deen Chase” Cano and Efren Omayan for accusing Garcia of being “corrupt, abusive, and extortionist.”
According to The Freeman, Cano alleged in various Facebook posts that Garcia’s family had amassed unexplained wealth and that the governor earns a 40-percent kickback for every infrastructure project in Cebu. Omayan’s Facebook account can no longer be found.
“All these are lies… We want to punish and hold responsible itong si Michael Cano and Efren Omayan,” said Attorney Alex O. Avisado, Garcia’s legal counsel. He said that while the vloggers were free to criticize Garcia for her performance as a governor, they are “not free to spread false and reckless accusations” against her.
Meanwhile, vlogger Mary Joy dela Cerna Lacierda now faces complaints for unlawful use of means of publication, unlawful utterances, and inciting to sedition. The Philippine Star reports that Lacierda posted a clip of NBI Director Jaime Santiago speaking into a microphone, with the caption, “Bagong pananakot sa mga [overseas Filipino workers].”
Santiago explained that he had told vloggers that if they had pending legal cases in the country or abroad, they would be arrested.
He also said that social media users responded to Lacierda’s post with calls to cut off support for the government by not sending remittances. “That’s inciting to sedition,” Santiago said.
‘Political Persecution’
On Monday, GMA News reported that Sonshine Media Network (SMNI) host Jeffrey Celiz had left the country to seek asylum in Canada from alleged “political persecution” in the Philippines. In New York, he told reporters, “The purpose is to really take myself away mula doon sa abusadong ilalabas — at inilabas na yata — na arrest order ng House of Representatives.”
A Facebook post by Celiz on March 21 suggests that he left the country then. In the post, Celiz called his flight a “tactical option of self-preservation” to “sustain the struggle against the evil regime” of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and “their communist terrorist conspirators.”
The House of Representatives summoned Celiz to appear as a resource speaker in hearings regarding online disinformation, which the House Tri-Committee conducted in aid of legislation. As Celiz did not give the committee excuse letters for his four absences, he was issued contempt and detention orders.
The House invited 40 content creators — including Celiz — to its first hearing on February 4, but only three appeared. Responding to excuse letters citing freedom of expression, Surigao Del Norte Representative Ace Barbers said, “Hindi pwede na gawin pong rason ng mga [influencers] na cinu-curtail natin ang freedom of speech nila. ‘Wag niyo pong lokohin ang taumbayan. Wala hong curtailment or suppression of freedom of speech dito. Kaya nga kayo inimbita rito e…para makapag-pahayag din kayo.”
In December 2024, journalist Atom Araullo won a landmark P2 million lawsuit against Celiz and SMNI co-host Lorraine Badoy after the two red-tagged Araullo and his mother, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chair emeritus Carol Pagaduan Araullo.
