Pasay court allows Jay Sonza to post bail over cyber libel case
Pasay RTC Branch 118 has allowed former broadcaster Jay Sonza to post bail in his cyber libel case, rectifying an error on his arrest warrant initially classifying his offense as non-bailable.
On Monday, May 4, the court ordered Sonza's release after he posted bail for P10,000, and moved his arraignment to June 3.
Sonza was arrested in Quezon City on April 30 on a charge of unlawful publication under the Cybercrime Prevention Act. According to the National Bureau of Investigation, Sonza was allegedly involved in the circulation on social media of unverified claims about the supposedly failing health of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
The arrest warrant initially indicated Sonza's offense was non-bailable. However, the NBI confirmed that a Pasay court amended the ruling.
In a Facebook post, Sonza's lawyer, Atty. Mark Tolentino, confirmed the court's decision on his client's bail, noting that it was always among Sonza's rights.
"From the outset, we have maintained that the offense charged is bailable as a matter of right, and the Court’s latest action affirms this position. The prior issuance of a non-bailable warrant was legally erroneous and resulted in an unjustified deprivation of liberty," he said.
Past 8:30 a.m. on May 4, Sonza, accompanied by NBI operatives, arrived at the Hall of Justice in Pasay City for his arraignment.
According to Tolentino, at the beginning of the arraignment hearing, the presiding judge stood to apologize to Sonza for the court's mistake in initially classifying the former broadcaster's charge as non-bailable.
"Because of that pagkakamali, na-deprive ang liberty ng isang presumed innocent na tao," Tolentino told the press, as reported by DZRH. "Despite the presumption of innocence, nakulong siya for four or five days. Until now, nasa kulungan pa because of sa pagkakamali."
In a statement shared on Facebook, Tolentino, on behalf of his client, accepted the judge's apology.
He added that the arraignment did not proceed following the defense's claims of jurisdictional issues in its motion to quash. According to Tolentino, Pasay City was not the location where the alleged offense took place. Further, he supposed the NBI cannot "act as the complainant" in the case, as the bureau was neither the offended party nor an organization that possessed personal knowledge of the case.
The charge against Sonza stems from videos and social media posts he allegedly helped circulate in January. Among these posts was an allegedly forged CT scan report related to Marcos, claiming the president was physically unfit to continue his term.
The hospital cited in the post denied the authenticity and accuracy of the alleged report posted by Sonza.
