The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the Pasay Regional Trial Court has issued an order allowing veteran journalist Jay Sonza to post bail after his arrest on April 30, 2026.
In a post on his Facebook page on May 3, 2026, Sonza’s lawyer Atty Mark Tolentino confirmed that his client is now allowed to post bail after the court corrected its previous order which “mistakenly treated the charge of Unlawful Publication as not bailable.”
“From the outset, we have maintained that the offense charged is bailable as a matter of right, and the Court’s latest action affirms this position. The prior issuance of a non-bailable warrant was legally erroneous and resulted in an unjustified deprivation of liberty,” Tolentino added in his post.
Meanwhile, a video clip posted on the GMA News Facebook page showed NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag, who explained that they received an order issued by the Pasay RTC dated May 2, which rectifies the offense stated in the warrant of arrest as non-bailable to bailable, and has set a P10,000 bail for the provisional liberty of the veteran journalist.
Matibag added that the court immediately amended the warrant when the NBI filed a return to service order to the court shortly after Sonza’s arrest.
The NBI is instructed to bring the veteran journalist to court for arraignment on May 4, 2026 at 8:30 am.