Businessman Enrique Razon Jr. on Wednesday, Jan. 14, filed a cyber libel complaint against suspended Cavite 4th District Representative Elpidio “Pidi” Barzaga Jr. at the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office in the Philippines over a Jan. 9 Facebook post in which Barzaga alleged that Razon bribed lawmakers from the National Unity Party (NUP) to support former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Razon submitted the complaint personally to the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office and told reporters that he and his legal team identified specific portions of Barzaga’s January 9 Facebook post as allegedly defamatory.
Razon stated that the questioned Facebook post contained accusations that he bribed NUP members of the House of Representatives to secure their support for Romualdez’s leadership in the chamber.
Razon’s camp described Barzaga’s allegations in the social media post as false and damaging to the businessman’s reputation.
The complaint invoked provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act in relation to libel under the Revised Penal Code.
Barzaga, who currently serves a 60-day suspension without pay from the House of Representatives for previous controversial posts on social media, responded to the filing in a Facebook video posted on Wednesday.
In the video statement, Barzaga maintained his allegations and said he would bring the matter before the courts and present what he described as evidence in Congress and in judicial proceedings.
Barzaga claimed that NUP chairman Ronaldo Puno had filed multiple cases against him following his public statements about alleged funds amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos that NUP candidates supposedly received from Razon during election campaigns.
Barzaga said in his video that he would continue to disclose what he called irregularities involving wealthy businessmen and their alleged influence over political processes.
Barzaga also posted a separate statement on Facebook on Wednesday in which he said he was ready to confront Razon in legal proceedings.
In that post, Barzaga declared that he was prepared to face Razon in court and called for the immediate initiation of judicial processes using the hashtag “#IkulongSiRazon.”
The Makati City Prosecutor’s Office will evaluate the complaint and supporting documents submitted by Razon to determine whether to file cyber libel charges in court against Barzaga.
As of Wednesday, authorities had not announced a schedule for any preliminary investigation hearings related to the complaint.
The House of Representatives earlier imposed Barzaga’s 60-day suspension without pay in connection with his prior social media posts that drew ethics complaints from fellow lawmakers.
The National Unity Party has not issued an official detailed public statement on the specific bribery allegations raised by Barzaga in his January 9 Facebook post.
Razon, one of the country’s most prominent businessmen, filed the complaint amid ongoing public discussion over the role of political parties and private sector donors in internal House leadership disputes.