Isabela vice mayor yields amid cybercrime case

Isabela Vice Mayor-elect Jeryll Harold Respicio voluntarily surrendered to a Manila court Tuesday after learning of an arrest warrant issued in connection with cybercrime charges filed against him by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Respicio appeared before Branch 34 of the Regional Trial Court, stating his camp chose voluntary surrender to avoid a public arrest or detention.

“We learned there is a signed warrant of arrest here in Branch 34, so we voluntarily surrendered,” said Respicio. “This is a process where they will no longer arrest us and commit us to jail.”

The charges stemmed from a series of social media videos in which Respicio allegedly claimed he could manipulate the Comelec’s automated counting machines (ACMs) for the upcoming 2025 elections.

The Comelec, through its Task Force Katotohanan, Katapatan at Katarungan (KKK) sa Halalan, filed the cybercrime complaint in February.

Respicio, also a lawyer, allegedly demonstrated in one video how election results could be tampered with through “backdoor programs” embedded in the system.

The vice mayor-elect denied any wrongdoing and posted bail amounting to P32,000 per count of the complaint.

“I will fight until the end, until the truth comes out and we unearth all the shortcomings of the Comelec this election and prevent a repeat of them in the 2028 polls,” Respicio said.