Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon yesterday filed a cyber libel complaint against former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada, who was already sentenced to imprisonment for libel over a previous case filed by the senator.
In his complaint before Pasay City Prosecutor Elmer Cris Rillo, Drilon said that Mejorada continued to “maliciously accuse” him of corruption, despite being convicted of libel.
Mejorada published videos on YouTube accusing Drilon of corruption, overpricing, and other anomalies. “The imputation of these crimes is part of the continuous and deliberate efforts of Mr. Mejorada to injure my reputation and character,” Drilon said.
According to Drilon, Mejorada uploaded to his Youtube account the following videos:
* Drilon’s monument of corruption revisited – uploaded on May 27
* Ang pagbaboy ni Drilon ng perang galing sa DAP sa Iloilo Convention Center (Drilon’s travesty for the money from DAP used for the Iloilo Convention Center) – uploaded on May 29
* Disadvantageous, onerous, lopsided ang contract ni Drilon sa (are Drilon’s contracts on) Iloilo Convention Center – uploaded on June 2
* Huli si Drilon sa kanyang kasinungalingan (Drilon was caught for his lies) – uploaded on June 12
“I was already taken aback by the individual titles of the videos themselves, as these already clearly show an imputation on my person of a crime, or of a vice or defect,” the senator added.
The minority leader also said that Mejorada continued to publish libelous statements, and “incessantly republished” previous content already deemed libelous by a court.
Mejorada served as Iloilo provincial administrator from 2001 to 2010 under former governor Niel Tupas Sr.
He filed in October 2014 charges against Drilon before the Office of the Ombudsman, claiming that the senator had a hand in the supposedly overpriced P679.8-million Iloilo Convention Center. But when asked to appear in the Senate and present evidence to back his allegation, he said he had nothing to show.
Drilon previously filed a libel case against Mejorada. A Pasay court convicted him in 2014 and sentenced him to two to four years imprisonment.
Mejorada appealed the verdict before the Court of Appeals (CA), but the appellate court upheld the decision, even extending his sentence to 4 years and two months.
Mejorada has said he intended to go to the Supreme Court to contest the CA verdict. (Rappler.com)