MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said he would leave the deportation issue involving an overseas Filipino worker accused of posting criticisms on social media against President Duterte to the judgment of the country’s labor attaché in Taiwan.

“[I] will leave it to the sound judgment of Labor Attache (Fidel) Macauyag, who used to be the city prosecutor of Cagayan de Oro City,” said Bello in a text message to the Inquirer.

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“Deportation is a legal process and I am sure there will be an observance of due process…,” he added.

For her “nasty and malevolent” posts against President Rodrigo Duterte, caregiver Elanel Ordidor will be deported to face charges of cyber libel.

According to Macauyag, Ordidor will be flown back to the country because her Facebook posts against Duterte were intended “to cause hatred amid the global health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

But labor group Nagkaisa urged Bello to conduct an administrative investigation on the issue.

“Further, we respectfully urge your good office to instruct the POLO in Taiwan to suspend its action until Ms. Ordidor is given due process. We feel that if the deportation proceedings against Ms. Ordidor pushes through, it would create a dangerous precedent that would put our OFW’s inherent and constitutional right to free speech and to travel in jeopardy,” the group said in a statement.

Nagkaisa, in a statement, said it checked two of Ordidor’s postings and it found them neither defamatory or libelous.

“Personal hurt or embarrassment, even if real, is not automatically equivalent to libel or defamation,” the group said.

Nagkaisa said Ordidor’s statements involved the interest of society and the maintenance of good government.

“A person in public office must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon his official acts,” it said.

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“We are not aware of other postings and how Ms. Ordidor allegedly defamed or libeled the President, but surely something is amiss when the POLO starts taking arbitrary action to have an OFW arrested in foreign land and deported without due process,” Nagkisa stressed.

/MUF

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