Two held over online threat against Duterte
Two men who allegedly offered “rewards” of more than a $1 million to anyone willing to kill President Rodrigo Duterte were arrested after they shared the details on social media.
The suspects — Ronnel Mas, 25, a teacher at a public school in the Zambales province, and Ronald Quiboyen, 40, a construction worker — offered rewards of 50 million Philippine pesos ($1 million) and a 100 million pesos for the president’s killing.
Mas was arrested on Tuesday by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in the Dagupan district.
Earlier he had posted on his Twitter account, saying: “I will give P50 million reward (to anyone who can kill) Duterte.”
After the post went viral, Mas reportedly deactivated his account. He was traced by NBI agents who used his online interactions to confirm his identity.
At the NBI headquarters, Mas initially claimed he was a victim of identity theft, but later allegedly confessed to the post, saying that “neither did he have P50 million, nor does he want to have the president killed.”
He is said to have claimed that the only reason for his post was to “gain more followers and retweets,” and begged the president for forgiveness.
However, in a statement on Wednesday, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, said: “Apology is not one of the grounds for extinguishing criminal liability. I cannot feloniously injure another and get away with it by merely saying ‘sorry’.”
Mas is facing charges for incitement to sedition under cybercrime laws and violation of standards for public employees.
Police in Aklan province arrested Quiboyen after he allegedly said on Facebook that he would “double Mas’ bounty offer to kill the president.”
He is also facing charges related to cybercrime.
However, human rights groups condemned the arrest of the two men, with both Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines describing it as “selective law enforcement.”
“Mas’ arrest was overkill and shows selective law enforcement. The Duterte administration is prioritizing the alarming crackdown on free expression and dissent through social media critic-tracing and mass arrests instead of adequately responding to people’s needs for broader public health measures for coronavirus,” a Karapatan statement said.
The ACT-Philippines said that Mas’ actions “did not merit such harsh measures from the NBI owing to the clear improbability of the alleged threat.”
The NBI denied the accusations, saying it will take action “against anyone who violates the law.”
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