Esperlita Garcia a.k.a. Cyber Perling, State Enemy of PNoy’sTRO’ed CyberCrime

In the Philippines it does not matter what the law says, what matters is how it is interpreted by onion skinned public officials even in far flung municipality of Gonzaga in Cagayan. Gonzaga Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr., felt he was libeled or his reputation tarnished when a retired teacher and grandmother who happens to be a staunch environmentalist in Gonzaga posted an update on her FB page. I am quoting the so-called “libelous” portion:

My fb friends are asking me what happened in the rally at the Saint Anthony’s Academy of Gonzaga (SAAG) yesterday morning, so here. I wish to inform everyone that the peaceful trooping of Gonzaganians at the starting point venue of the rally was harshly dispersed by the Mayor of Gonzaga who was with more or less 10 armed and uniformed military men and with a firetruck and several vehicles near the SAAG gate along the national highway. Gonzaganians wanting to join the peaceful rally were hindered by the Mayor’s group. What is so shocking to know was the bullying words of the mayor to one of the invited speakers of the KALIKASAN PNE when speaking to the mayor, “Mayor Sir, it’s the constitutional rights of your constituents to conduct a peaceful rally to air their protest against mining within the communities.” “NPA ka ‘no? Walang constitution sa akin. Ako and Mayor ditto. Lumayas kayo, “ the mayor angrily answered as he grabbed the video camera being in the hands of one of the protesters and angrily threw it with force to the ground.

Well, that is really terrible, no I did not mean what Garcia wrote but is it libelous? If there is anyone who needs to get a lesson it is none other but the mayor. First of all you don't bring military men in a peaceful protest because military people are trained to kill people unlike the police who are trained in crowd control. Second of all the mayor ought to get a lesson on tolerance and the military should have restrained the mayor if they are indeed the protector of the people.

If that is libel does that mean that if Gonzaga Mayor Carlito Pentecostes Jr., slaps me silly that I will be sued for libel if I posted my experience on Facebook? It seems the local DoJ led by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Edward Javier sees the crime of e-libel even if the SC issued a TRO better than the highhanded treatment of the protesters by the mayor that they went ahead filing defamation of character and libel against a retired teacher and Grandmother Esperlita Garcia. Ever wonder why real heinous crimes and crimes committed by well-connected powerful persons remain unsolved because they seem so fixated at trying to secure a conviction against a grandma? So they say they are allowed to make mistakes but filing a complaint of libel citing RPC Article 258 on abortion is not exactly an oversight when they meant RPC article 353 and 355 which is not a typo but more of being confused, LOL. Seems funny when abortion came into the picture but in their haste to score a  3 minute of sound bytes  of fame their incompetence got exposed instead while dragging RTC Judge Tabaco in their folly on the strength of RPC Article 258 when they meant to file libel, that states: 

Abortion practiced by the woman herself of by her parents. — The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods shall be imposed upon a woman who shall practice abortion upon herself or shall consent that any other person should do so. 

Any woman who shall commit this offense to conceal her dishonor, shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods.chanrobles virtual law library

If this crime be committed by the parents of the pregnant woman or either of them, and they act with the consent of said woman for the purpose of concealing her dishonor, the offenders shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods.

Well, blow me down and slap me silly but this is a legitimate WTF moment!  Now whoever penned this revised penal code I hope is not one Talibani honor killer, for one the language seems vent on penalizing the woman and her mother for concealing the “dishonor.” Now, why the fixation on dishonor when all the while it was supposed to be to preserve life? Okay, let’s give this a rest since this should be another idiotic topic we can discuss next time around, LOL.

Now, what’s up with the judge? Did Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Conrado Tabaco had one too many tobacco or something  that he did not even read the complaint and failed to catch the “error” of using RPC Article 258 on abortion for a defamation and libel complaint filed by the geniuses at the local DoJ led by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Edward Javier? why issue a warrant of arrest  for violating abortion RPC, did he even check that grandma Perling is 62 years old and unlikely to get pregnant much less have an abortion? Eh magkano ba este what was the warrant of arrest for when obviously someone did not read the complaint or was that just what Perling feared that it was meant  as a pure harassment?  If the judge used his due diligence he would have rejected the complaint right there and then but to go further and issue a warrant of arrest is not exactly just a case of incompetence but null and void and therefore Esperlita Garcia’s arrest is illegal?

I can understand that they are in the boondocks but the municipality is online so how did they not know that there was a TRO on RA10175 and no matter how they lie este explain that they filed the complaint based on RPC Article 353 and 355 and not RA10175 the 2 cited articles 353 and 355 does not cover Facebook or the internet. Did they not even ask Vicky Belo or are they fixated with Hayden Camera este Argee Guevarra or they are too engrossed on giving retired teacher Esperlita Garcia a hard time? The DoJ in Manila refused to file a case in 2009 and what makes it different now if I may ask, because it involves mining compared to just small time bust butt jobs?

Another legit WTF moment is when NBI director for Cagayan Valley Hector Eduard Gealogo says they did not conspire with Mayor Pentecostes or manhandled Garcia during the arrest. Maybe true but they did not read her, her Miranda rights and just hauled her to jail. Arresting Garcia on the crime of abortion when the complaint was meant for defamation of character and libel is therefore illegal, meaning her arrest and her imprisonment is also illegal. Now what’s the swift action all about, does she even posed a danger to people and it took 3 agents to arrest her? Don’t the NBI had more pressing things to do like hunt down the suspect in the Ortega murder case, or how about arresting Ecleo the parricidal murderous killer who has already been convicted and yet remains at large? Ok, I guess they need to bring down pesky retired teachers so the mayor can teach her a lesson, what exactly was the lesson again if I may ask? Now if the statement of Esperlita Garcia is “libelous” what about this statement from Pentecostes, are they not libelous and I quote:

“Wala akong sama ng loob sa’yo, dahil kung may sama ako ng loob sa’yo, hindi na kita iisyuhan ng mayor’s permit sa negosyo mo kahit hindi siya nagbabayad ng tax. So walang harassment, kundi ginagawa ko lang ang karapatan ko dahil sinira nila ang puri ko kaya nag-file ako ng libel case,” he added.

Environmentalist?

Pentecostes also questioned Garcia’s stand against mining, alleging that several private properties of Garcia and her family in the province have been open to mining operations.

“Ang totoo, may mining operation dito sa bayan namin pero hinihigpitan namin ang monitoring dito. Ang hindi ko lang maintindihan, sinasabi niya na siya ay environmentalist. Siya mismo ang nagpapamina sa tabi ng bahay niya at sa tabi ng mga bahay ng mga kapatid at magulang niya. Hindi ko maintindihan,” he said.

“Sinasabi niya na anti-mining siya, eh bakit niya pinayagang ipamina ang mga private property nila?” he added.

I would have believed what Pentecostes was saying but I asked Esperlita Garcia on the above claims and this is her response:

He is lying for i never allowed mining in my own property. He said he was not aware of my arrest. It was just then the own initiative of his lawyer who requested the services of the NBI to serve the warrant of arrest against me. He even said, he was considerate to me that inspite of my failure to pay my taxes, he just issued me Mayor's Permit. Is the LGU his own that he can just allow business to run without paying the needed business tax? I was charged a criminal case for a VIOLATION OF MUNICIPAL TAX ORDINANCE even if I had paid all my financial obligations at the LGU he leads. Is this fair? this is the reason, I need to attend a court hearing on this criminal case against me tomorrow, Oct 25. He makes me miserable for my anti-mining advocacy hence these two baseless cases against me filed by the Mayor himself.

This is turning out to be a circus and CJ Sereno should step in and ask RTC Judge Conrado Tabaco to explain why he should not be sacked for issuing a warrant of arrest on a libel case citing RPC Article 258 on abortion. Cite the local DoJ for ignorance of the law when e-libel does not technically exist based on the TRO they issued and why did they involved the NBI when clearly Esperlita Garcia could not hurt a fly and pose a danger to no one. The DoJ is a department that is under the president and they should not utter things that's so childish and unprofessional when Asst. Prosecutor Edward Javier pouts and sulks on Garcia airing her side to the media. Well, anyone who was wrongfully accused on a law that technically does not exist, wrongfully charged, arrested and imprisoned illegally with abortion when they meant libel and on top of that posting a bail is like being victimized by a kidnap for ransom gang. A complaint against the NBI for illegal arrest and imprisonment should be in order if we want this incident as what the mayor says to be a teachable moment and not just him giving a “lesson” to a grandma. The DILG must school if they are not doing it already local elected officials about tolerance and proper use and management of of the military, police and the National Bureau of Investigation.

What the mayor, the local DoJ people, and the NBI did was showcase the feudal mindset of people given authority and sadly they seem incapable of handling it correctly. This is like the problem in the legislation of Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 or RA10175 we have people who are clueless on the workings of the internet specifically Facebook regulating what is beyond them. When people post on Facebook, it does not automatically show everywhere or worldwide as some ignoramuses would like to believe. It took me awhile to look for the posting in question and all I got was a jpg image instead of the original posting so please stop hallucinating that it was that easy besides who cares about the reputation of a small municipal town mayor? It is not like politicians in the Philippines are highly regarded for integrity, so quit it and stop harassing grandma you bullies!

 Subscribe in a reader

Click on the images to receive your free email updates  POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow PJ @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, &  Twitter

scandals  

Misleading: Footnote to STING'S SM-MOA (NON)CONCERT

by Cheryl L. Daytec-Yañgot

"Somebody misled the Englishman in New York."

So claimed SM   in a public statement after the musician Sting’s announcement that he would be cancelling SM-Mall of Asia as the venue for  his December Philippine  concert. It went on to blame my letter to the  singer's camp for his  decision. Beyond ambiguity, I am  who SM was referring to as the “somebody who misled the Englishman in New York.”

My letter sent to and received by Sting's camp on 20 September said in part:

Sting is a well-loved musician among human rights advocates and believers all over the world including the Philippines. This is foremost because he speaks the voice of the marginalized and disadvantaged. A lot of times, it was because of him that stifled voices were amplified. This happened each time he exposed injustice, iniquity, and inequity in his songs. The world's oppressed classes owe Sting so much. And now, in behalf of the disadvantaged, we ask him to do something for them again.

There is an ongoing online petition asking Sting for a change of venue of his concert which also shows a video of the April spontaneous rally of thousands that surprised even us who made a public call for a mass indignation action... This petition was initiated by Project Save 182, the movement based in Baguio City, Philippines, which (the National Union of Peoples’ lawyers) is representing in court. Project Save 182 was born on January 20, 2012 when more than 5,000 people gathered to protest the planned expansion so soon after it was made known…SM and the government kept things under wraps. Public consultations as mandated by Philippine law and even international law were not conducted and the project does not bear the stamp of social acceptability. Since 20 January 2012, the people have not stopped protesting...

I am worried that the petition might not reach Sting which is why for the last few days, I have been looking for ways to reach him.  I hope I found the channel... (T)he people of a historical city of almost half a million people are fervently praying that something can be done. Please do something...

I stated  that  SM  already cut and will cut trees.  The corporate  giant labeled this  “misinformation”-  it is balling, not cutting, the trees. Project Save 182 has always been incredulous. After misinformation from  SM in the past (as when it led the public to believe   that its expansion plan bore LEED certification which  turned out to be a white tale, or  when its lawyer  said on TV that the expansion project would not start while the case was pending  which would turn out to be untrue ), concerned citizens are understandably skeptical of its statements. Other than  its self-serving assertion, SM has not shown evidence that it balled and not cut 40+ trees on Luneta Hill.  We were there during the two nights when SM was felling trees (and in one of those nights, we were armed with a court-issued temporary environmental protection order which SM refused to obey).  SM erected walls to obstruct the  view of what was happening within the expansion area but we  could hear the sound of trunks cracking and  falling to the ground.

At any rate, the issue is not whether SM will ball or cut the trees. Cut or balled, mature  trees will  perish  unless the balling procedure is done properly. For a  fully grown pine tree, slow death is certain from balling and even SM’s pine tree expert affirmed this in a published  article.  In fact,   cutting a fully grown tree is not as bad as balling it. A cut tree has value because it can be used for lumber or serve other human purposes; a balled tree will just rot away. The death of those mature pine trees that were balled and transplanted in Loakan by Camp John Hay Development Corporation remains vivid in our memory.  Project Save 182’s call is for the trees to remain where they are now. They should be neither cut nor balled. SM apparently wants the world  to believe  that as long as it will ball the pine trees, it does not destroy the environment.

SM says,  “With this successful move to stop Sting from holding the concert at SM MOA Arena, and referring to the venue as an 'oppressor', it is now looking more like the court battle has extended from saving trees, to ruining a corporate giant’s reputation completely."  SM’s reputation gets destroyed because of a claim that it is cutting trees? 

I do not think Sting decided against SM-MOA  merely because  182 trees would be cut. We have to credit the man- or any environmentalist worth his salt- with more sense than that. The cutting of a tree or trees does not ineluctably give rise to an environmental concern. Cut trees to serve human need, not to pamper greed. A thousand trees may be cut when it is  indispensable to fulfilling a   human necessity. But trees or   a single tree for that matter  should not  be removed from  an erosion-prone area sitting on earthquake faultlines  to pave the way for the erection of a 7-storey (or more) concrete building which includes a parking facility. Perhaps, the  property is yours, but your ownership right does not extend to using it in a manner that  you  expose to peril the lives and properties of others. In fact, to the right of property is attached social responsibility.

No one misled- and no one could mislead- the Englishman in New York.


Photo belongs to Pixel Offensive

*******************************************************************************

Cheryl Chyt Daytec, is a Practising/Litigation Lawyer, Human rights advocate, Poet, Writer, and an Associate Professor at St. Louis University in Baguio City, Philippines. She is presently a member of the Board of Trustee of Cordillera Indigenous Peoples' Legal Center (DINTEG) rendering pro-bono services for the poor and the oppressed (marginalized women and children, informal settlers, IPs, laborers, HR victims, etc.).

 Subscribe in a reader

Click on the images to receive your free email updates  POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow Cheryl @ Facebook & NetworkedBlogs

scandals   Politics Filipinos  Philippine Politics

Hoy, Kaplok

Hoy, Kaplok

JOIN, ANTI-KAPLOK MOVEMENT

This is an organization of Filipinos who dedicate their lives to the objective of crushing political dynasty mentality, giving flesh (fair play, loyalty, exemplary, sincerity, and honesty) to politics, creating a

culture of sacrifice as the highest degree of honor in every conflict of interests, and fostering volunteerism as a castle of every profession.

CLICK OPEN THE SITE AND "LIKE."

https://www.facebook.com/HoyKaplok

The Orwellian Manifesto

By Joel Pablo Salud

"The meaning of our struggle is to be able to return to freedom. First you must return to freedom. So that all segments of our community, whether from the Left or from the Right, will have the right to speak. And in that open debate, in that clash of debate in the marketplace, we will produce the clash between the thesis and the antithesis—and we will have the synthesis for the Filipino people.”

The late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

The idea of a creeping tyranny forms the crux of RA 10175 or the new Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. It’s much too real and risky to be a laughing matter. The powers it claims for government not only flatters itself undeservedly, it opens our private lives to more intrusions than what our two hands could parry. Think about it: where we spend our days amid the warmth of loved ones, while conversing with friends online, there government will be, just right next to us, watching clandestinely, and lying in wait for what we will do next. No greater than mere suspicion is all that’s needed to bring down a jail term of twelve years in one fell swoop. It is set as a precedent for invasion, with all the power, resources and malevolence tyrant governments have at their disposal.

More than the simple violation of our right to privacy, RA 10175 is in essence a criminal incursion into our lives; criminal because it is unconstitutional. The chilling effect is being felt everywhere. Recently, it was reported that Asian governments and netizens were closely monitoring Filipino protests against RA 10175. They fear this law could become a paradigm of how things would be in cyberspace for the future. Hence, losing this battle for our voice is synonymous to destroying what defines us as free individuals in a new frontier. A draconian law like this, once in control of cyberspace, could take forever to untangle. Imagine the bedlam once it spills over into real-time.

It is expected of any State possessed with delusions of grandeur to restrict the voice of the governed, whatever medium it chooses to control. Hitler did it. Stalin did it. Idi Amin went further down by eating his enemies. No other voice matters to a tyrant but its own. The forged hero worship of those around him feeds the pride and aggrandized opinion of himself. As he basks in his own self-worth, thinking he could do no wrong, the air around him is then charged with hubris. He begins to count his days in power in multiple centuries, thinking he is the answer to all things. What began as motives good and true turn tragically, for the would-be tyrant, to messianic self-importance. Every single tyrant in history—from Ceaușescu to Marcos—thought saving the world was their deific calling, to instil some discipline into freedom’s chaos. Marcos’ New Society was a model of that idea. Little did these people realize that as soon as they sit over all they surveyed, the first that needed saving was the one whose ass was on the chair.

It doesn’t really take much to grasp how power corrupts—and corrupts absolutely. It begins at the very moment a leader—one democratically elected or otherwise—becomes conscious of his ‘otherness’: that sense of distinctness from all the rest. Much as a king would declare himself god over his subjects. That feeling of transcendence begins to eat away the very notion of his being a man among men, like acid on skin. The slow, painful fall from grace begins when he or she feels that the world, even heaven, owes him all things. It’s a declaration of mutiny against the proper order. What is rarely admitted in cases like this is that the erring government leader is the true rebel in its most hideous form. No wonder the same rebellion he or she initiates against freedom gives birth to the very revolution that would soon topple the tyrant’s throne.

Once that sense of distinctness fully blooms, the natural result is the need for secrecy. For power to be wielded with absolute, unquestionable swing, there ought to be things left unsaid. No shape or form of darkness can live under a flicker of light. Transparency makes tyranny weak; secrecy feeds its black bones. The wielding of absolute power can only thrive under the guise of a benevolent face in order to conceal its wicked intentions. And this is where the irony comes in. One can tell if a government is preparing for a creeping tyranny: when it begins to breach the privacy of the governed if only to preserve its own.

Significant to the preservation of government’s policy of secrecy is a public gagged into submission. Nowhere is this best explained than in history’s account of the breach of freedom of expression. This policy forms the backbone of an autocratic two-faced monolith: only the voice of the State matters. This is government’s answer to the chaos and racket democracy naturally gives birth to. Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan was Martial Law’s battle cry for the better part of two decades. This unforgiving milieu kept the press under Marcos’ thumb for years. What Marcos, with all his brilliance, failed to catch was freedom’s basic tenet: no one can legislate character. This remains true even when discipline is direly wanting.


Had a conversation recently with a wise old sage of the courts. He made his point clear: "Government should kill RA 10175. There is a principle followed in all democratic institutions. Remember how it is better to let loose a hundred guilty persons than to jail an innocent one? The idea holds true for every democratic belief. A hundredfold abuse of a right is always tolerable than the need to curtail it. Because in a democracy, the law was always meant to defend the people, not to discipline them. Discipline and responsibility are never functions or intents of laws; they belong to gut-wrenching personal ethics. That's why democracy belongs to mature leadership. And since democracy is the antithesis of a monarchy or any autocratic government, it is rightfully assumed that real freedom means less government intrusion."

The philosopher Cicero pointed out how disingenuous discipline by legislation comes off to many in society: “The wise are instructed by reason, average minds by experience, the brute by instinct, and the stupid by necessity.” What added insult to injury was Martial Law’s presumption: we are all stupid, thus requiring discipline by necessity.

Yet, in so far as discipline is concerned, history teaches that it is government in general that is wanting in discipline and restraint, since the same is more prone to the lure of power than society is to the charms of freedom. A public steeped in poverty often gives up liberties to the need for food on the table, education for its young, money for its health. Even a cursory reading of historical narratives reveals that freedom has always been our last thought, the final solution when all else had failed. Nevertheless, government insists quite mistakenly that we need discipline more than it does.


RA 10175 and the inclusion of online libel is a wound that reveals a disease deeper than what critics could readily diagnose. Government is beginning to see itself as society’s redeemer, thus creating its own plan of redemption. Author Octavio Paz sees this as the genesis of a fall: “Every moribund or sterile society attempts to save itself by creating a redemption myth,” wrote Octavio Paz in The Labyrinth of Solitude. Clearly, this is the road being taken by government in justifying RA 10175, positioning itself as the be-all and end-all of who and what we are, and who and what we should become. This law doesn’t only bully us into silence, it presumes to tell us what we should say, if at all we choose to open our mouths. Nothing could be more criminal than to presume how we should think for ourselves and speak on our behalf.


Yes, it is criminal to suppress expression. Why? Because expression is the sole genius of man, the one thing that keeps society from falling off the threshold of insanity. Freedom alone fuels it. George Orwell, author of the ‘Big Brother’ fame, 1984, curiously expands on man’s indubitable birthright in his novel: “Curiously, the chiming of the hour seemed to have put new heart into him. He was a lonely ghost uttering a truth that nobody would ever hear. But so long as he uttered it, in some obscure way, the continuity was not broken. It was not by making yourself heard but by staying sane that you carried on the human heritage."

Big Brother’s slogan in Orwell’s 1984 ought to remind us of what some governments are forcing us to believe: that “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery,” and “Ignorance is Strength”. This is the Orwellian Manifesto, the modern powers’ oath and religion of silence.

The novel offers us a foretaste of the inevitable return to dictatorship, if and when freedom is once more chained: “In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night. Your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated: vaporized was the usual word.”

Middle of this year, the United Nations declared internet freedom as a basic human right. One report said:

“All 47 members of The United Nations’ Human Rights council signed a resolution to this effect Thursday, unanimously backing the notion that freedom of expression online is a basic human right. ‘The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression, which is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any media of one’s choice,” reads the report, issued by the U.N. Friday. The same report also calls upon leaders to ‘promote and facilitate access to the Internet’ and recognizes ‘the global and open nature of the Internet as a driving force in accelerating progress towards development in its various forms.’ The passing of this resolution is hailed as ‘momentous’ by individual ambassadors.”

Nothing could be more detrimental to the cause of individuality and uniqueness of man than to give in to silence, or self-censorship out of fear, or worse, the notion that peace can only be had when a society speaks and thinks the same way. The force behind our struggle for identity and existence begins and ends where freedom of expression expands above us as our blue and dark sky. We of the thunderous clash of millions of voices find synthesis in our uniqueness, not in cultic conformity. Thus, to speak liberally within the pied frontiers of real time and cyberspace, is to declare ourselves forever free. In no less this milieu are freedom and humanity best served. 

Convict Shirt graphic courtesy of: A.a. Almonte, BMPM Staff

Subscribe in a reader Click on the images to receive your free email updates POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow Joel Pablo Salud @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, & Twitter


Filipinos 

The Pride of Ciara Sotto, Sonny Angara & RA10175 in connection with The Code of Omerta

One of Benigno Aquino III’s campaign promise was the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) or something similar to that effect but as soon as he won it seems that it fell down the cracks errr on the bottom low of the president’s priority just like Jueteng . But then again does he have his priorities in order or what?

When he was pressed to honor his commitment on FOI Aquino says WE (yes WE instead of them) are not ready yet for FOI and things need to be in place for that to happen. The problem was instead of giving us FOI in the interest of transparency which this president proudly dangle to highlight what separates him from the run of the mill trapos he gave us instead RA10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Perhaps one can argue that it was Tito Sotto who inserted the e-libel provision (which remains criminalized that has been gathering dust for the longest time in the house of congress supposedly in line for amendment for downgrade down to a civil offense instead of criminal offense) but he could have vetoed it and urge the legislative branch to remove the unconstitutional provision on libel that is a degree higher in criminal imprisonment penalty.

Why the 180 degree turnaround, was it because they need to pass RA10175 first to "control" or "manage" the flow of "sensitive" information that WE the people are not prepared to take? Are our politicians bound by the code of Omerta that it appears that they are willing to look like a dumb fool in cyberspace at that is nut errr not even funny anymore?

Now whoever is giving our senators especially Angara lessons on the complexities of the internet, reach, and the social media are doing our steamed errr esteemed senator and the people he represents a disservice. It was excruciatingly painful to read his views and rationale on the passage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 especially the Sottomized the E-Libel provision that makes him look like a trying hard relic of the past desperately disguising as digital savvy nerd, LOL.

I am sorry but if one click is all it takes to send your message libelous or not to the world is a fantasy that is not even worthy of being written as a fiction novel. Let me share what I wrote in the comments section of the “one click” article:

Ignorance indeed is bliss, hehehe. One click sends it to your page in social media but not necessarily the world because of the following:

1. Your reach is limited to your circle and number of connections (friends, contacts, etc) and the setting of your page should be public all the way.

2. The right terminology is not one click sends your post to the world but one click makes it accessible to the world if you set it right as in public all the way, hehehe.

3. You have to be Bill Gates or Zuckerman for the Angara phrase of one click to apply since their followers are worldwide and by the millions.

4. One click does not send it to the world for any Pedro or Maria or even an Angara, LOL.

When you find yourself in the hole the rule is to snap out of it so you can simply step out of it rather than digging deeper till you are stuck, LOL. Criminalized libel is antiquated and unacceptable in civilized societies so please stop embarrassing your countrymen. 10% of whom are outside the Philippines that serves as a reminder to other nations how backward is the Philippines and with one click sends to the world their ignorance of penalizing civil "offenders" a degree higher on criminality rather than civil penalties of fines and sanctions.

If one click is all it takes to send your message across worldwide I am sure SEO gurus would like to know and learn the secrets of the trade from our steamed errr esteemed senator Angara. I hope Senator Edgardo Angara is aware that it is the elusive one click that the monetized bloggers are searching desperately like the legendary Juan Ponce de Leon’s quest for the fountain of youth.

The problem it appears may come from the culture of kissing peoples’ behind that overbearing staffs and researchers of the you get what you paid for kind are feeding these legislators with bad information. Just like a computer our legislators will also succumb to the garbage in garbage out principle.

When we are the one who will suffer the consequence of their follies Mr. Angara if he really cares understood the repercussions should not persuade us to give the law a chance. Say what now? Give the law a chance as in wait for the overcrowded jails to fill to the brim and further worsen the court backlogs with petty e-libel complaints just so you people can see the folly of your unconstitutional RA10175? I wonder if this is what makes Senator Angara’s son and namesake Sonny Angara proudly states was what makes them stand out among political dynasties because of their proud legacy. Well that does not surprise people anymore since Senator Angara goes a long way back to the days of the frozen stiff one whose legacy haunts us like a recurring nightmare to this day.

And then there is Ciara Sotto who no matter how her dad shamelessly plagiarizes mere bloggers or what most people says about her dad Senator Tito Sotto, she still sees him as a highly “principled” man. Yeah right, if Sotto is a highly principled guy I am the Prince of Wales and that lucky guy with Lady Kate in England is just an impostor, LOL. Of course any daughter will see things subjectively because of the emotional attachment but it has its limits when it becomes so obvious or the child was molded in a numbing environment that affects their mores or what is right and wrong. Ciara Sotto calls her dad’s detractors haters and she herself has earned some followers that are not exactly fans but those waiting for her meltdown as she seems to be headed in that direction with her arrogance, to quote:

Herself having become the target of criticisms for coming to the defense of her father, Ciara said she is now used to coming across "haters" on the Internet.

"Nasanay narin naman ako na ganyan, kasi (I got used to it because) you really can't please anybody and I accept that," she said.

"I won't stop just to please them. And I wont stop naman para mainis sila (so I can annoy them). I'll just say what I feel, and I know naman the truth, and it doesn't really bother me anymore," she added.

Fantastic, I wonder how she would feel if she realized she was wrong all along. Unfortunately she is high on that Trapo pedestal that it will take a miracle of biblical proportion for her to see what is morally right and just. One who never knew what is fair and just will of course not appreciate how it feels to be robbed and of intellectual property at that is probably something they will never grasp.

No to Cybercrime Law: Jabarah Fox

Convict Shirt graphic courtesy of: A.a. Almonte, BMPM Staff

Related articles:

• The Return of Chrstopher Lao in Support of Cybercrime Prevetion Act with Sottomized E-Libel
• The Philippine CyberCrime Law, Ego Salutant Vos (We Salute You)

 Subscribe in a reader

Click on the images to receive your free email updates  POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow PJ @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, & Twitter

scandals  

The Return of Chrstopher Lao in Support of Cybercrime Prevention Act with Sottomized E-Libel

Remember Christopher Lao and his “famous” or rather infamous arrogant phrase “I should have been informed” that was mocked and went viral after he plunged into the flood and his car hilariously floated and dragged by the current? Well, he is back and with a vengeance to say the least in support of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 specifically the Sottomised inserted provision on E-Libel, LOL.

To refresh our memories I found the original TV coverage on youtube below:

Oooooppps mea culpa, mea culpa, it’s this youtube below but you must admit that it was pretty hilarious isn’t it?

Anyway according Christopher Lao the reason he supports the Sottomized Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 specifically the E-Libel provision (never mind that he is a lawyer now and that E-Libel was inserted and never went on the floor for debate, LOL) was the absence of a law that protects or prevent people like him to be a victim of cyber bullying. Funny how he described his nemesis of his own making as the “highly evolved demon” of social media abuse, hehehe while rationalizing the passing of the defective RA10175 as expounded by Theodore Te's article "Cyberauthoritarianism 101." Let me just quote the “cyber bullied” Lao’s spits este speech:

“In levying a much heavier penalty on cyber libel, the State therefore recognizes fundamental differences between cyber libel and its counterpart in the penal books. Not only that, the State has a heavy interest in seeing this bill through because this demon knows no age. It doesn’t choose between young and old and therefore vulnerable to these attacks are our youth,” he said.

“In enacting this law, our State was just fulfilling its constitutional mandate to protect and ensure the wellbeing of the youth who are [the] foundation of our nation. If it were otherwise, we would have a society filled with disempowered youth; people who would settle for less, for mediocrity, because all their lives they are going to be made to believe they are not worth anything more,” he added.

Lao said lack of an anti-cybercrime law could lead to a society filled with criminals because experts agree that cyberbullied individuals, like himself, have a huge probability to become criminals.

“Bakit? Kasi galit yung tao. Ganun kaya ako nung na-bully ako. I was really, really raging mad. I wanted to get back at everybody but ganun yun sa umpisa. Natural process yun. Hindi ako masama,” he said.

Lao said there have been cases of young people who commit suicide because of cyberbullying. He cited the suicides of Megan Meier and Ryan Halligan in the US, which were later used to craft legislation against cyberbullying.

Really now, perhaps if Lao will take the time to look at himself in the mirror he will see the demon is within him and not what he perceived as those heaped on him. First of all this is what is wrong with some people in our society, they never or are clueless in taking responsibility and accountability for their actions. You don’t blame others for what you do because if that is the case I myself posted on FaceBook as my profile pic Janarah Fox nude photo and I can also conveniently say that RA10175 made me do it, LOL. I feel like a pot belied hairy man posing as a sweet sexy woman and that is hilarious but was it an offshoot of the unjust law or was I just being ridiculous? I say the later because we need to realize that the world does not revolve around us and besides we can’t be too serious all the time, LOL. For someone who believes he was bullied, its just unthinkable that he wants the rest of the netizen in and out of the Philippines to be silenced by the dumb criminalized libel provision?

According to Lao he did good studying law but this makes me doubt what he learned when he state that victims like him can become criminal surely has a problem. Perhaps Narciso (narcissist tendencies?) takes the better of some men who can’t see beyond himself because they are so fixated with their own shallow selves?

In a society that has been numbed to the perversion around them there comes a point where some people lose their ability to discern what is acceptable and unacceptable or worse legitimate from illegitimate, or legal and illegal. If that was not the case how else can you explain Angara's son who rationalize that their family political dynasty is different and above the rest since they have a legacy to impart to the people. Really, hehehe the frozen stiff one also has a legacy and to this day haunts us like a recurring nightmare starting with the Sottomized E-Libel. How about following the constitution for a change instead of making excuses? I am afraid that people with shallow minds will not see pass that and will just make excuses why they are a jerk or worse a thieving criminal.

There is still time for Christopher Lao to redeem himself if he stops his fixation on being a "bullied" victim. 2 years past and he still wants to be seen as a damaged goods is just preposterous, why not take anger management so that next time you find yourself in a hole you can avoid digging yourself deeper thinking that's the only way out when you simply snap out of it by stepping out, hehehe.

Bullying victims are the likes of Saturnino Fabros, Jaime Garcia, or the sales clerk at the Duty Free Shop berated and humiliated in public by Boyet Fajardo and not the Carabuena or Roy Negro type because while Lao did not beat up the news crew he did try to bully his way out with his arrogance and temper. What happened to Christopher Lao is definitely karma as in you reap what you sow and definitely not bullying (if he was they are a minority), most people just find his reactions hilarious making him fair game for mocking, LOL..... Here's an unsolicited advice Christopher, next time you are in a bind, and when you see some news crew trying to interview you, don't even make a comment, especially when you are not in a position to say something nice, that might embarrass you and your family no end.

I believe Philippine society has an overload of tear jerker tele-novelas that makes people develop an illusion that they are victims or people are out there to victimize them. When one gets mocked online due to their arrogant behavior don't always think that you are being bullied, some people are just trying to see how far they can go until the next meltdown, LOL.

 Subscribe in a reader

Click on the images to receive your free email updates  POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow PJ @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, & Twitter

scandals  

The Philippine CyberCrime Law, Ego Salutant Vos (We Salute You)

In Wikipedia, the finger (as in giving someone the finger or the bird[1]), also known as the finger wave, the middle finger, flipping someone off,[1] flicking someone off, or the one finger salute is considered a universal symbol of contempt in the West. Some even take it as obscene. The one finger salute for me is a non-verbal expression of endearment to those that rile us, we dislike or abhor.

As a Filipino in diaspora, I have witnessed in the last couple of decades how the internet, and the social media that rely on it as a platform, have become an integral part of our people’s lives. As a people looking for their identity, Filipinos suddenly found a safe, practical and user-friendly medium of communication, of reaching out to love ones and friends, of airing their angst or gripes, of expressing their ideas. Distance became surmountable, absence became less unbearable and long unsaid emotions and feelings found an outlet of expression and reached aching hearts, separated by time and space.

In many ways and for so many of us, the freedom of access provided by the nether world, not to mention the anonymity it easily provides its user, has given us a link to people, places and ideas heretofore aliens to us, beyond our reach or inaccessible to us, though some are not only familiar but also near and dear to us. To many Filipinos, both at home and in Diaspora, the internet forms part of their bridge to their humanity. It is a modern technical structure of communication of the 21st century that affirms the existence of one of a man’s fundamental freedoms as a human being – the freedom of expression.

Our experience then and now has shown us how important our liberty to express ourselves is, regardless of the unpopularity/propriety of our ideas, in the maintenance of our democratic space in the Philippines. Precisely because we are still free, from fear or threat to life or liberty,  to voice our sentiments or  to air our grievances to the government, in any medium available to us , there is still HOPE that we could still improve our lot and our imperfect society/government.  The light at the end of the tunnel is still visible, And as long as there is light, no matter how dim, the sword need not be unsheathed.   

It is with this as a backdrop that we look at R.A. 10175.  

I have no beef with the criminalization of pornography, bigotry of all kinds, fraud, theft, propagation of hate and violence through the social web. They are inherently wrong in themselves and a bane to any society. But to proscribe libel in the internet as a crime with much higher penalty to boot than libel outside the internet is to create a “ a chilling effect “ on our right to freely express ourselves in the internet ! To give the DOJ almost absolute right to ACT as a national censor agency on what should be banned, upon finding by DOJ of a prima facie violation of R.A. 10175 ( even without court approval ), in the internet is to give SUPER AUTHORITY to the DOJ on what we could or could express not in the internet. To give the police authority and or the NBI the power to eaves drop on our most private conversation through skype or private message in the internet on the basis of a sworn statement on probable cause of violation of this special law before the court is just unbelievable. Even a mere ATTEMPT to violate this law is deemed an offense. R.A. 10175, as it is, seems more intended to suppress criticism than to safeguard the right to criticize.

What is it that the Philippine government would like to protect under this law? Is the Philippine government protecting itself from the cries of her people? Of course, there are many of those who abused the liberty provided by the internet. But we are equally within reach of defensive mechanism against assault to our dignity in the internet. We could simply delete those offensive postings on our wall or blocked them or reply to them in like manner and or in defense, with ease and in the comfort of our room or basement unlike in the print or broad cast media.  So why this draconian measure, aimed at the jugular of our freedom to express ourselves in the internet? 

The freedom of expression is the soul of a free mind. Its suppression, in any form and in any which way, maims the mind. Definitely, a maimed mind is the nursemaid of tyrants.

To R.A. 10175, as long as it maims the mind, we give “you the bird “!    

********************************************************************************

Emerito F. Salud - A lawyer from the Ateneo law School ' 73, a member of the NY Bar since 1994, a FILAM community activist, a radio-commentator of RadioPinoy USA, he is currently the VP for External Affairs, FALDEF and Director for Advocacy of NaFFAA REgion 1. He is also a member of the NJ Chapter-Movement for Free Philippines, founded by the late Senator Raul Manglapus, and a founding member of Kaibigan Inc., based at the Port of Newark, NJ, a support group for Filipino merchant mariners (seamen).

Subscribe in a reader Click on the images to receive your free email updates POGB will not sell, exchange, use or allow any 3rd party access to your email for
any other purposes without exception, email exclusively for article updates only. Follow Merit @ Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, & Twitter


Overseas FilipinosFilipinos Filipino-Americans