From being friends, Osmeña and Garcia have turned into bitter political enemies, an emnity that has spread to their families, friends and supporters.
One such supporter, Jonah John Rodriguez, is now facing a lawsuit for allegedly calling Margot Osmeña "a drug addict, a prostitute and a thief" in text messages.
The offensive messages were traced to Rodriguez’s cellphone.
Municipal Trial Court in Cities Judge Rosabella Tormis issued the warrant for Rodriguez’s arrest in connection with the charge of grave threats Margot had filed against him.
Rodriguez, however, was immediately released after posting P1,000 bail, reduced from the original P2,000.
"I was caught by surprise when (I was) served the warrant of arrest," said Rodriguez when nabbed inside the barangay hall in Tinago where he had sought medical check-up.
Garcia promised financial and legal assistance for Rodriguez, who used to do errands for him at home while drawing his salary from City Hall. Rodriguez is now a staffer of Garcia’s Kusug party.
The offensive text messages reportedly began hounding Margot soon after Osmeña announced his plan to contest Garcia’s re-election bid last year.
The messages continued even after Osmeña defeated Garcia, and last March, Margot sought the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to trace the messages.
The NBI traced the almost daily messages to Rodriguez’s cellular phone.
"At first it was okay because, you know, that is politics. But when (the offensive text messages) came almost everyday, (they were) already unchristian," Margot said.
The last such text message Margot received — "Addict, addict, addict" — was on June 20 but it apparently came from a different cellphone although she suspects the sender was the same person.
"It’s too much. I have better things to do. Let us stop this," Margot said. — Freeman News Service