Sara Duterte Statement on Walden Bello's Accusations After Arrest

The camp of VP Sara Duterte released this statement on accusations made by Walden Bello

Vice President Sara Duterte answered the accusation of former Akbayan Representative Walden Bello that she is behind his arrest for libel and cyber libel cases.

The case was filed by Davao City Information Officer Jefry who worked during the Mayoralty of VP Sara. Bello denied the allegation against him. In a report from Inquirer, Bello, who ran for vice president in the 2022 elections, said that his arrest was “pure political harassment and persecution.”

He also stressed that he will not let people hinder him from exercising his free speech. Bello said that he was arrested because of the case filed by the camp of the Vice President. Since it was too late to post bail, he spent the night in jail.

VP Sara Duterte denied her involvement in these cases filed against Walden Bello, as the latter has claimed. In a statement, shared by News5 on Twitter, the former Davao City Mayor stressed that she has been clinging to the advice from her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, not to give her attention to criticisms.

She said that amid the heated word war during the campaign period, she never engaged in this and just concentrated on making the public understand her platform. “Criticisms do not deserve even a backward glance because the accomplishments of Davao City under my leadership are already set in stone,” the Vice President said.

She also shared some advice with Bello. VP Sara said that instead of putting blame on others, playing the victim in this situation, and dragging her name into this issue, the former congressman should realize that the public condemns excessive display of pride and arrogance.

The Vice President also reminded Bello to freedom of speech does not give anyone the right to defame other people. “Mr. Bello should focus on salvaging what remains of his dignity and self-respect, I am asking him to stop obsessing over me – and stop blaming me for his fall from grace,” VP Sara Duterte said.