Norman Mangusin (aka Francis Leo Marcos) [photo from his Facebook account]
Marcos was arrested in Quezon City by the NBI’s cybercrime division on the strength of a warrant of arrest from a Baguio court over his alleged violation of Republic Act No. 8050 or the Optometry Law.
Cybercrime division chief Victor Lorenzo said Marcos allegedly distributed eyeglasses without the prior approval and permission of the Optometric Association of the Philippines.
Lorenzo added that they are still verifying charges against Marcos for other charges like qualified human trafficking, violence against women and estafa.
In one of his YouTube videos, Mangusin defended himself saying the cases filed against him were dismissed because of insufficient evidence.
He added that cases were filed by people who are envious of him. He said he is willing to face any charges in court if there is anything wrong with helping poor Filipinos adversely affected by the coronavirus crisis.
He said even if you do good to the people, there are still others who will put you down because of the toxic nature of Filipino crab mentality.
A few hours before he was arrested, Marcos went live on Facebook where he was shown giving away food packs to different towns in Luzon.
“‘Yan po ‘yang bigas na ipamimigay natin para sa bayan ng Nueva Ecija… Bulacan, Bulacan, Camiling, Tarlac at para ho sa Bicol region,” sabi niya sa live stream, Martes.
“Pagkakasyahin ho natin. Bale ang total ho na distribution natin ay 1,070 sacks today, at 50 tonelada ng kalabasa.”
Marcos has more than a million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
In July 209, former First Lady Imelda Marcos wrote an open letter to the NBI asking the bureau to investigate the businessman for allegedly using the Marcos name to collect campaign contributions and sell gold certificates.
Vic Rodriguez, spokesperson of the Marcos family, previously said in a statement that Francis Leo Marcos is not a relative and not related in any way to the Marcos family, and he does not also represent the interests of the Marcos family. (Rommel F. Lopez)