An individual was apprehended on Tuesday for a malicious social media post against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that was reported to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
Facebook user Michael Romero, with the username ‘Mike Romero,’ posted a photo of Marcos Jr. overlaid with a red arrow pointing to the president’s head with the caption, ‘Headshot.’
Romero posted the same photo with a different caption, and he explained under the comments that the ‘system’ removed his post, and he claimed that he made an error in his caption.
‘My post earlier was deleted by the system. Mistake in the caption,’ his comment read.
After gaining attention on the social media platform, the NBI Cybercrime Division identified Romero and conducted a surveillance to locate him.
Romero admitted ownership of the Facebook account after being confronted by authorities, which led to his arrest in his residence in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.
According to the NBI, his post was a violation of Inciting to Sedition of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Following the arrest, the NBI warned against posting malicious content on social media. /apl