Arraignment for arrested Zambales teacher deferred

MANILA, Philippines – Judge Richard Paradeza of the Regional Trial Court branch 72 in Olongapo has deferred the arraignment of Zambales public school teacher Ronnel Mas.

Mas’s lawyer, Attorney Dino de Leon, filed a motion to quash, questioning the validity of information on three grounds.

“One is the validity of Mas’s arrest, acquisition of jurisdiction on the person of the accused. Second is we argued that the information does not constitute an offense, and third, the court was subsequently outside of jurisdiction,” Atty. de Leon said in an interview.

The arraignment was rescheduled for June 25, 2020.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Mas on May 11 after he posted on Twitter that he will give a P50 million reward to whoever kills President Rodrigo Duterte. He was accused of inciting others to sedition in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

The court released Mas from detention on May 19 after his family posted P72,000 bail.