Iloilo bar’s security guard arrests German-American for ‘defamation’

defamation
German-born American Jeremy Joseph Sascha Blodgett was arrested in Iloilo City yesterday for allegedly defaming a bar’s security guard.

A German-American has been arrested for defaming a security guard after allegedly becoming unruly at an Iloilo bar.

Jeremy Joseph Sascha Blodgett, who has managed a restaurant in the city since early last year, faces “oral defamation and alarm and scandal charges” following the late night encounter.

ADVERTISEMENT

Skywalk restobar security guard Edcel Delfin, aged 21, told the police he advised the 35-year-old to go home at 1.40am yesterday (Tuesday, August 28) because he was allegedly being unruly.

It was then that Delfin claims Blodgett “defamed” him. The police report has not spelt out what he is alleged to have said. 

According to Panay News, Delfin then arrested Blodgett and took him to the Mandurriao police station where he was held in custody.

ADVERTISEMENT

Blodgett has been manager of an Iloilo City restaurant called Punto Resto since February 2017. He formerly worked as a ‘mobile equipment servicer’ at US Army bases in Germany and more recently in the catering trade in Maryland.

According to his Facebook page, he has been engaged to a Filipina since 2015 and apparently has a young child. He currently lives in in Barangay Tabuc Suba in Jaro.

It remains unclear if he is still in detention, or if any formal charges have yet been filed against him. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Under Philippine law, ‘oral defamation’ is the act of speaking “base and defamatory words which tend to prejudice another or his reputation”. This stems from the Supreme Court hearing of Victor vs Court of Appeals G.R. Nos. L-32836 of May 3, 1989.

Oral defamation can come from acts of retaliation, acts of yelling and acts of any form of heated argument pertaining baseless information. Even talk which contains overtones of false information or content can be considered an act of oral defamation.

Penalties can be severe, with the highest penalty imposed for those found guilty of the act is up to two years and four months. (Article 358, Revised Penal Code).

Follow our Facebook page for daily news updates

Comments are closed.