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National Bureau of Investigation
PNA / File photo
MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed complaints against senatorial aspirant Raul Lambino and former Duterte Youth party-list Rep. Ronald Cardema over the alleged spread of false information about the supposed arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
NBI officials filed the complaints before the Department of Justice on Tuesday, April 15. Lambino and Cardema are facing complaints for violation of Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes the "unlawful use of means of publication" and the spread of false news.
- Any person who by means of printing, lithography, or any other means of publication, shall maliciously publish as news any false news which may endanger the public order or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State;
- Any person who by the same means, shall encourage disobedience to the law or to the constituted authorities or praise, justify or extol any act punished by law;
- Any person who shall maliciously publish any official resolution or document without proper authority, or before they have been published officially; or
- Any person who shall print or publish books, pamphlets, periodicals, or leaflets which do not bear the real printer's name.
This is in connection with the false claim that the Supreme Court had supposedly issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte — a TRO that the high court did not release.
According to NBI Agent Allan Delfin of the bureau’s Technical Intelligence Service, Lambino made the claim in a Facebook livestream, where he allegedly said that the high court had issued the order.
“So these false news when published as news will tend to endanger the public as well as discredit our state,” Delfin said in an interview with reporters.
For Cardema, Delfin said that he also stated the same information on social media.
On April 8, the Supreme Court asked Lambino, who is also a lawyer, to explain why he should not face any administrative sanction due to the information he had spread.
What happened before. It can be recalled that on March 11, during the arrest of Duterte, his lawyer, Israelito Torreon, filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to compel the government to halt its cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and declare such cooperation unconstitutional.
Hours after the petition was filed and just before Duterte’s plane took off for The Hague, rumors circulated that the Supreme Court had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the government from cooperating with the ICC.
However, no such order was issued, and Duterte proceeded with his flight to the Netherlands.
