‘Fashion Pulis’ arrested over Deniece Cornejo’s libel charge

MANILA, Philippines – Blogger Michael Sy Lim, man behind the blog “Fashion Pulis," was arrested on Tuesday over a libel charge filed by model Deniece Cornejo.

Based on the report from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Lim was arrested by the Philippine National Police Women and Children Protection Unit following a warrant of arrest issued by the Antipolo City Regional Trial Court.  

Lim was arrested at his home along Leviste Street in Makati City, at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday and was brought to the CIDG headquarters in Camp Crame.

On Twitter, Lim confirmed that he was arrested and showed disappointment about his arrest.

“Held in the CIDG office. Sad how people abuse libel to curtail press freedom. #FPisFearless,” Lim wrote.

Held in the CIDG office. Sad how people abuse libel to curtail press freedom. #FPisFearless

— Fashion PULIS (@FashionPulis) August 11, 2015

Cornejo’s legal counsel Ferdinand Topacio  said Cornejo filed cyber libel raps against Lim after he posted an article on his website claiming that Cornejo was sick with a sexually transmitted disease.

“The arrest of Mr. Michael Sy Lim a.k.a. Fashion Pulis is a vindication of the rights of my client, Ms. Deniece Cornejo, and more importantly, it sends the message that cyberbullying and victim-bashing, in whatever form and from whichever source, has no place in civilized discourse,” Topacio said in a statement.

Lim claimed that the information he posted allegedly came from a leaked medical report by Healthway related to the alleged rape case filed against actor Vhong Navarro in 2014.

Cornejo’s camp said they are looking into filing charges against Healthway.

Meanwhile, Lim took to Twitter to express his reactions regarding the libel charge filed against him. He said he was just doing his job.

“Libel is part of the life of every media practitioner," Lim said. "I'm just doing my job," he added.

The police recommended a bail of P16,000 for Lim.

Cornejo made it to the news in January 2014 after she accused Navarro of rape.