(CNN Philippines) — Filipino nurse Ello Ed Mundsel Bello was charged with sedition on Tuesday (April 7) after allegedly posting anti-Singaporean rants on his Facebook account last January.

Aside from sedition, the 28-year-old Bello was also charged for lying to the police after he allegedly told authorities last January 3 that his account was hacked and so it wasn’t he who posted the racist rants.

According to The Straits Times report written by Elena Chong which was posted April 7, Bello’s posts could promote ill will and hostility among Singaporeans and Filipinos in Singapore.

Sedition refers to the “conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state.”

Under Singapore’s Sedition Act, anyone found guilty of promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races of the population of Singapore will be fined up to $5,000 or sentenced to five years in prison — or both.

Providing false information to a public servant, meanwhile, is punishable with a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to $5,000 in Singaporean currency per charge.

Legal aid

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Wednesday (April 8) that it respects the processes undertaken by the Singapore government on Bello’s case.

In a text message, DFA Spokesperson Charles Jose told CNN Philippines that the government through the Philippine Embassy in Singapore continues to provide all the possible legal assistance to Bello in accordance with the Singapore law.

“The forms of assistance further required will be determined by the sentence to be imposed on him,” said Jose.

Last January, Bello or Edz Ello allegedly made a Facebook post describing Singaporeans as “loosers [sic] in their own country.”

Screenshots of his Facebook rants show that he is allegedly “praying that disastors [sic] strike Singapore and more Singaporeans will die than [sic] I will celebrate.”

He then ended his FB post with the message: “REMEMBER PINOY BETTER AND STRONGER THAN STINKAPOREANS [sic].”

Bello was immediately dismissed from his job at the government-run Tan Tock Seng Hospital last January 9 following internal investigations into a series of Bello’s social media posts that were deemed offensive and detrimental to multi-cultural harmony in Singapore.

He was sacked for his conduct that goes against the hospital staff’s “values of respect, professionalism, and social responsibility.”

Jose said that the Philippine government has been monitoring Bello’s case since January and the Philippine Embassy in Singapore has been in constant communication with him.

Aside from Bello’s anti-Singapore rant, he has also touched on other race and religion.

Singaporean netizens gave their opinions on the issue, some calling for Bello to be blacklisted in the country.

A Filipino netizen, however, apologized on Bello’s behalf, saying that a true Filipino will never insult the democracy or the people of another nation.