MANILA: A Filipino blogger has been arrested and accused of inciting sedition over a Facebook post the authorities described as making a veiled death threat against the president.
In the Oct 3 post, video blogger Michael “Mike” Romero shared a picture of President Ferdinand Marcos standing with other officials outside the earthquake-ravaged city hall in Bogo in the central Philippines.
The photo was overlaid with a red arrow pointing at Marcos’ head with the single-word caption reading “headshot”, the National Bureau of Investigation said on Wednesday (Oct 8).
“To shooters and law enforcement agencies, when you say ‘headshot’ it means you would be shot in the head,” bureau director Jaime Santiago told reporters at a press conference, during which the suspect was made to stand behind him in handcuffs.
“When he expressed that thought, we took it seriously,” Santiago added.
The bureau will file a criminal complaint accusing Romero of inciting sedition and making a grave threat, offences punishable by at least six years in prison.
“Vloggers have a right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, but there are parameters to those,” Santiago said.
“When it comes to threats or any attempt on the president or vice-president... we enter into the picture.”
Romero, who has 98,000 followers, describes himself on his Facebook account as a diehard supporter of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte as well as a pop singer and tech expert.
His original “headshot” post has since been taken down, replaced by another with the same picture and arrow but a new caption: “City Hall is really accurate.”
The amended caption makes an apparent play on the building’s exterior signage since Bogo is both the name of the city as well as meaning “dumb” or “stupid” in the local Cebuano language.
Freedom of expression has been declining globally, as restrictions around speech mount, according to monitoring group Article 19. On the 2025 Global Freedom of Expression Report, the Philippines ranked 95th out of 161 countries. - AFP
