Pesquera ‘libeled’ by Osmeña for Team Suyop tag

Councilor Joy Pesquera has filed a complaint for cyber libel against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña before the prosecutor’s office over the label “Team Suyop.” Pesquera, who is seeking the congressional seat in Cebu City’s south district, said she felt aggrieved by the “malicious” tag coined by Osmeña in referring to the group of former mayor Michael Rama, to which Pesquera belongs.

On Jan. 15, 2019, she posted on her Facebook account the schedule of the mobile signal shutoff during the Fiesta Señor foot procession and the Sinulog grand parade as announced by the National Telecom- munications Commission (NTC).

Osmeña took a screenshot of her post and posted it on his Facebook account. In the caption, Osmeña labelled her as part of the “team of drug addicts (Team Suyop) and (he) followed it up by sarcastically thanking me for leaking internal government communication and compromising the safety of over two million people,” she said in her affidavit.

She said the information she shared was not privileged because NTC 7 Director Jesus Laureno himself told reporters in an interview about the signal advisory for the public to know.

“As a woman, I have to set an example by standing up against a bully like Tomas Osmeña who has continued to malign my person as well as my colleagues,” Pesquera said on her Facebook account. “I will not hesitate to file libel cases against him and his trolls for each and every malicious statements and utterances.” What Osmeña did embarrassed her and her family.

If the prosecutor’s office finds basis to file charges against Osmeña before the Regional Trial Court, she will have him charged under Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

She will also file administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against the mayor for shaming her in his Facebook posts in the last three years.

SunStar Cebu tried to get Osmeña’s comment, but he had not replied at press time. /

As a woman, I have to set an example by standing up against a bully like Tomas Osmeña who has continued to malign my person as well as my colleagues.”

-- COUNCILOR JOY PESQUERA, RUNNING FOR CONGRESS IN CEBU CITY’S SOUTH DISTRICT