Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III on Monday said he will file a cyber-libel case against Edward Angelo “Cocoy” Dayao, the man supposedly behind the “Silent No More” blog, for calling him a “rapist, plagiarist, and bigot.”
Dayao has reportedly left the country. He was a no-show at a Senate hearing on fake news last Oct. 4, and has not posted any tweets on his social media account since Oct. 1.
The National Bureau of Investigation has confirmed Dayao’s identity as the blog owner, which Senator Cynthia Villar corroborated, citing research of her staff.
“We’re filing a case against him,” Sotto said when asked to react to the absence of Dayao, whose profile page says he is “offline.”
The senator wants Dayao's passport canceled as well, and will file charges against others who run the blog.
“[Dayao’s] name-calling, that’s my basis [for filing charges],” the former actor and TV star added. “His statements that we didn’t sign [a resolution urging the Duterte administration to address extrajudicial killings], he invented a story that was wrong, that we [senators] didn't sign anything, that doesn't count.”
Sotto called out the blog after it labeled seven administration senators as “Malacañang dogs,” as an article on the blog made it appear that the senators purposely did not sign a resolution”•filed by opposition senators”•urging Duterte to address the rash of killings, especially of minors, under his administration.
“The bashers on social media, whatever they say, that’s their opinion. If it’s an opinion, that’s okay, but once you declare that’s a fact, that’s a different story,” Sotto said.
“If they feel they don’t like my face, my mustache, that’s okay, I don’t mind those sort of things,” he added.
Sotto said a public apology by Dayao would be useless. “Nothing will happen with that. If he wants, he should just let me punch him,” he added.