Online Filipinos brought up a photo of actress Julia Barreto filing a complaint against former television personality Jay Sonza amid reports of the latter’s detainment for alleged syndicated and large-scale illegal recruitment.
Authorities on Tuesday, August 15 confirmed that the former broadcaster is detained at the Quezon City Jail quarantine facility in Payatas after speculations about his arrest appeared on social media.
Reports said that Jay was first temporarily detained and arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) on July 18 when they found out he had a pending estafa.
At that time, Jay was on his way to board a flight to Hong Kong at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. As part of the procedures, he was interviewed by immigration officials prior to his departure.
He was prevented from leaving the country when the BI discovered his estafa case.
Jay was then detained by the BI when they also found an active warrant for syndicated and large-scale illegal recruitment against him.
He was transferred to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and then turned over to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) on August 3.
BJMP spokesperson Jayrex Joseph Bustinera said that Jay is now in the Quezon City Jail-Ligtas COVID Center Quarantine Facility.
Reports of the former TV personality’s arrest and detention prompted some online users to bring up posts about Julia going to the NBI in 2020 to file a cybercrime complaint against him for spreading “fake news” about her.
“DASURV [DESERVE],” an online user on the X (formerly Twitter) platform said in response to a 2020 news item reporting about Julia’s complaint.
“OMG, GET HIM, JUJU!!!” another online user commented on Tuesday.
“#JailSonza. Kailan ang ibang mga propagandists?” wrote a different Pinoy, who reposted the news item about Julia’s complaint against Jay.
It was in September 2020 when the actress went to the NBI to file a cybercrime complaint against Jay after the latter claimed on Facebook that Julia was supposedly impregnated by actor Gerald Anderson.
“Congratulations sa aking kapitbahay sa Congressional Village, Bahay Toro, Quezon City,” Jay wrote before, as quoted by reports.
“Napatunayan nina Visoy (Visayan tisoy) Gerald Anderson at anak nina Dennis Padilla at Marjorie na si Julia Barreto na kapuwa hindi sila baog,” he added.
“After months of love lockdown and ESQ (exact sex quadrant) – may nabuo sa sinapupunan ni Julia,” Jay wrote.
He later deleted his post but Julia went on with the complaint since according to her, it left her and her family in distress.
READ: ‘Get ’em’: Celebrities back Julia Barretto after she quashed pregnancy rumors as ‘fake news’
The actress said that she filed the complaint to teach Jay and others a lesson.
“Mr. Sonza, and all those who publish these reckless and baseless posts, must be held accountable for their actions so that they think twice before claiming things as fact,” Julia said before.
RELATED: Julia Barretto praised for standing up to Jay Sonza via cybercrime rap
Jay has a record of posting misleading and false posts on social media.
Some of these include his post about the Philippine Arena during campaign period, mistaking a random Facebook user for former lawmaker Sarah Elago, commenting about a campaign rally and posting a manipulated photo, among others.