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)

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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).

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Newsbreak! FaceBook Disables Political Jaywalker's Account

UPDATE: After 24 harrowing hours and 2 article post later, Facebook finally restored PJ's account using Pedro Jacobo at the expense of losing my nom de plume Political Jaywalker.... the price we have to pay for freedom, thank you all for your support.

________________________________________________________

Surprise, surprise, FaceBook just disabled Political Jaywalker's account for suppossedly using a "fake name," what was that all about, LOL. I guess they must not have heard of using a pen name for bloggers of the citizen journalist type, or on the other hand we may have been effective at exposing the scalawags in Philippine society, that they were able to succeed in shutting down one of the outlets we use as a forum for the free flow and exchange of ideas.

Let us see if FB will unwittingly take the side of the scalawags by silencing us at expressing legitimate concerns for a better Philippines, we await the outcome with guarded enthusiasm.

Political Jaywalker is the creator of Pedestrian Observer GB a political-social -economic commentary blog that has been online since March 6, 2007. Established initially by PJ and has been transformed into a group blog composed of individuals respected in their field and respective communities. Its a shame that FaceBook has decided to block our account serving as one of our forum in our quest for a better Philippines.

Let us see if FaceBook will disregard our right to anonymous free speech, to quote Electronic Frontier Foundation:

Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A much-cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:

Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.

Will they restore our account or will they contribute to gag legitimate democratic discourse? Can FaceBook stifle blogger's right to express themselves, let me know your take on this........

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Senator Gordon: 61 extra judicial killings of journalists since 2001

Delivered by Senator Richard Gordon

Philippine Senate
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Privilege Speech on slain journalist Aristeo Padrigao

On November 17, another journalist was shot and killed in Gingoog City. Aristeo Padrigao was a blocktime commentator, radio show host of DZRS Radyo Natin and a columnist in the Mindanao Monitor Today. He made frequent exposes on illegal logging and other forms of graft and corruption in the city of Gingoog. He was shot dead at 7:15 a.m. in Gingoog City and died from a single .9 mm bullet in his right jaw.

Mr. President, my own father was assassinated and I hope this will be the last time that I would rise here but it seems that I've always made a commitment that when something like this happens, so dastardly an act, I am constrained to rise principally because it would appear that we have never learned, or we have never really pursued killers who kill with impunity in this country, especially judges, public officials, or for that matter, even the lowly

And so Mr. President, I rise on this matter again, hoping that it would be the last time, hoping that our policemen will finally take action on matters involving killing such as this.

Already, this country has been accused in the halls of Congress in the United States of America as being perpetrators of extra-judicial killings mainly because we had not been able to conduct any cogent investigation or for that matter, been able to arrest any of the suspects in these dastardly deeds.

Mr. Aristeo Padrigao was exercising his right as a citizen of this country, his right as a radioman, who take his role, seeing to expose things that are abusive and are certainly inimical to the interests of our communities.

Now Mr. President, this person, Aristeo Padrigao, was at the time he was killed, taking his children to go to school. A seven-year old child was with him and two motorcycle-riding men wearing dark jackets came by and shot him in the jaw and killed him instantly before the eyes of his seven-year old child.

Now Mr. President, what could be more dastardly than that, what could be more, so brazen in so far as our society is concerned? It is as if people of his ilk feel that they can go ahead and do it with impunity in broad daylight, in front of a school, in front of the families of these victims.

Having said that, it behooves the Senate which should be the forum upon which people can freely redress their grievances to their duly elected representatives such as us to move to finally put a stop and perhaps awaken our law enforcement authorities as well as our local officials to the fact that these killings must be contained. How many killings have been perpetrated using motorcycles? This is not the first time I've risen on this platform because in the past years, more and more killings have been conducted by people who are riding motorcycles.

We have filed a bill to make sure that people riding motorcycles should have a crash helmet and they should have a body number corresponding to the plate number so that anybody riding motorcycles could be stopped if there is no crash helmet with a body number. Unfortunately, it has been in the committee for so long. And I would like to awaken the committee concerned to perhaps take a look at that. Perhaps we can stop the killings if we create a way upon which we can take a bite out of crime, of making it difficult for them to commit these dastardly acts.

According to Uriel Quilingging, a friend of Padrigao, that the killing might have been due to the radio commentator's exposes about illegal logging.

All of us rise here from time to time. We conduct investigations here. We're not immune from the acts of these people and for that matter, so all the people who blow whistles on dastardly crimes in our country. If we do not act, we are encouraging in effect, these people who have no morals, who have no qualms of killing people in front of their families, to continue these acts.

My father was assassinated in 1967. It is now 2008 and it continues on and on, and so much so that it has become ho-hum to most of our people. It would appear that we just yawn and say, "These things happen. Talagang ganyan, wala tayong magagawa."

We should not be willing to accept it. And this Senate should call in the law enforcement authorities and haul them to task and bring in all the list of all those people whose families had been killed so that they can explain what they are doing to make sure that people don't get away with these criminal acts. And that is why, I rise once again to remind ourselves as well as the law enforcement authorities. We cannot just accept the statement of Supt. Leonroy Ga, Gingoog Police Chief, who said that his men were investigating reports that Padrigao had received death threats days before he was killed but found no other leads, except that the killing was related to Padrigao's work. Anybody can say that. What kind of policemen do we have, when all they can say is "we're investigating, we're making a follow-up. We're looking at this event but sorry there are no witnesses and we think it was related to his job that's why he was killed."

We must say no more. In fact, if the policemen of this country keep on saying that, this country has a right to start hauling the police chief concerned right here to let them know that the Senate of this country will not tolerate even the local police chiefs from saying "I cannot solve the case." We must tell them it's not gonna be business as usual anymore. And we should recommend that he be relieved and that the PNP chief himself explain to us what he is doing about it, what kind of programs he is doing about it to answer for all these motorcycle-related killings and public executions that have gone array in this country.

We call these policemen to task for taking P10-million out of the country. What is more dastardly than people who get away with killings when these policemen are supposed to be doing their jobs, making sure that they have criminal investigation techniques and they should be using the intelligence fund instead of using it for travel, they should have used that intelligence fund to identify organized crimes in this country, perpetrators of assassinations, guns for hire so that we can get these people to task.

And yet we heard the silly statement that day, "Ok na, bahala na ko jan. Pwedeng gamitin yung intelligence fund para gamitin natin pagpunta natin sa Moscow and spend the P10-million out there.

We can no longer tolerate this. I pray that is the last time I will rise on matters like this. But I'm afraid it will not be the last time because it has been my personal advocacy and the Senate president is aware of that, because as a young man when I was still in Law school, I went to the Department of Justice, at that time headed by Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. And while with my mother went to him three years after my father had been, five years after my father had been assassinated and continued with every Secretary of Justice at that time to try to get the assassins or the masterminds of the killing of my father.

There are people who are killed and they do not have the voice as strong as we have here. So we must speak for them, we must speak for the seven-year old child of this individual who was killed. He cannot just be a statistic, so much that every time I go to Washington with the Ambassador of the Philippines and I speak with senators, lobbying for the guerillas, for the veterans so that they would be paid. I would not be threatened by a senator and say "We cannot give this to you, because we cannot give American money to people, whose record, whose government has a record of having extra-judicial killings.

Balewala yun, ang tunay na sitwasyon dito ay yung pinapatay na tao because he speaks. And if he can no longer speak, no one is safe. If judges cannot govern because they are shot, they cannot make decisions because they are killed in public and you know that I have risen there and when we did, we were fortunate enough because when they investigated they found out that mastermind was in Muntinlupa.. When I spoke here last time, on an incident involving a child whose parents were both Muslims and Christians. A Muslim-Christian wedding occurred and she was the daughter of this wedding and she was killed. Somebody grabbed her bag while she was going out of her job early in the morning and she was shot. When we spoke, the policemen acted. But we cannot speak all the time every time somebody is killed. However, if we make sure that when we call the policemen this time and we ask them and we tell them that we would no longer tolerate the kind of "ok lang situation, wala tayong magagawa, bahala na, pipilitin namin magawa yan." We must demand more of law enforcement, we must demand more of our community and our country. Let me just cite today the glaring statistics insofar as journalists are concerned.

Are we aware that this guy Mr. Padrigao who was murdered is the 6th journalist killed in this year alone. And are we also aware that he is the 61st journalist to be killed since 2001. Are we just gonna say, "hey, another statistic; another one bites the dust; another daughter orphaned." A community that remains silent, and what do we have? A community that is deadened by fear, that is afraid to speak up, that no longer feels it can handle situations like this because "wag ka na makialam baka ikaw pa ang barilin."

We must strengthen the resolve of our people. We must awaken their righteousness. We must tell them that there is a Senate in this country that will not tolerate this and that will do something about this. And let it be impressed upon our minds once again, according to a sage once upon a time, let it be instilled into your children, that the liberty of the press is the palladium of all the civil, political, religious rights. If that palladium is destroyed, if that palladium that privilege of being able to report on matters that are important for people to know, that their environment is being destroyed, that their trees are being cut by those who are greedy in this country. If they start becoming afraid, then we will have as we have had in past incidence mudslides that kill other people. And that is why this gentleman was killed because he dared spoke up like that.

And so I would like to ask the Senate to refer this to the proper committee right away. And so that we can call no less than the Chief PNP, and no less than the people who are in charge of Intelligence in this country and make a demand upon them that they must come out with a report of all these unsolved crimes in this country so that finally we could have some action on this matter.

I would like to thank our members of the Senate for having had the patience to listen, but I think this cannot be ignored and we cannot be complacent or apathetic about it

Thank you Mr. President.

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

Dionesio C. Grava - Community journalist based in Los Angeles. Member of New America Media, Society of Professional Journalists, and Society of Environmental Journalists, among others.

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Libel & Prostitution in Gloria Arroyo's Fiefdom

In this day and age and in a society like what we see in the land of cheats where perversion is the norm Libel & Prostitution in Gloria Arroyo's Fiefdom is like an inseparable Siamese twins. Prostituting a public office for political gains to silence their political enemies perceived or otherwise seems to be the norm nowadays in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s questionable tenure. The Bystander in reaction to another anomalous 4 year old libel suit against Anti-Gambling advocate Archbishop Cruz quoted the Supreme Court often repeated reminder to prosecutors to be fair and impartial in the performance of their functions:

We cannot emphasize too strongly that prosecutors should not allow, and should avoid, giving the impression that their noble office is being used or prostituted, wittingly or unwittingly, for political ends, or other purposes alien to, or subversive of, the basic and fundamental objective of observing the interest of justice evenhandedly, without fear or favor to any and all litigants alike, whether rich or poor, weak or strong, powerless or mighty. Only by strict adherence to the established procedure may be public’s perception of the impartiality of the prosecutor be enhanced.

The latest scandalous case of libel took its toll on The Daily Tribune publisher Niñez Cacho Olivares when a Makati City court found her guilty of libel for writing a column accusing a law firm of influence peddling in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA3) deal. What is odd was that she was not the only one who published such scandalous deal as she lamented being singled out, exactly what the Supreme Court has been pointing out. Although this time around it is not the prosecutors but the decision of the city court gives the impression of prostituting their chambers in favor of the well connected and powerful law firm as the “victim.”

The law office or better known as “The Firm” is not content with the verdict received by Olivares of a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 2 years, P5M in moral damages and P33,732.25 in civil damages plus a libel fine of P4,000 will pursue 47 more libel suits separately. Thanks and no thanks to Judge Winlove Dumayas of regional Trial Court Branch 59 for the shameless errr "honor" of this sentence but geez this libel law is one outdated irrelevant law that impinges on the freedom of the press.

The imprisonment decision handed out to Olivares despite Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno issuing a circular not too long ago last January of a circular advising judges to refrain from imposing jail sentences on journalist.

“The Firm” is widely known and it is no secret that they are well connected and powerful counting Mike Arroyo as a client the husband of the one cheating errrr sitting by the stinking Pasig River with their key people appointed by this administration to government post. I am not a fan of Niñez Cacho Olivares nor do I agree with most of her commentaries but just like anyone else she is entitled to express her own opinion. This high handed tactics has no place in a society that strives and prides itself as the first democratic state in the region and as such should be guided by its ideals and principle.

DJ of Philippine Commentary had mixed feelings on the outcome of the Olivares case pointing out the excesses of the scalawags in the field of journalism as part of their arsenal for extortion activities. While I agree that there are indeed scalawags there is this danger of blaming the victim that only weakens our resolve in our democratic quest for freedom of expression and the press. Besides what is the point of having a press club if they can’t police their own ranks, but then again that is probably wishful thinking in a society where perversion and aberration seems to be the norm.

At the comment section of Ellen Tordesillas blog was a comment from atty36252 pointing out the flaw in the penal law, which I agree needs to be addressed. A good landmark case for the Supreme Court that will benefit the entire journalist but that it has to be elevated to the SC first, to quote:

A libel is public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead. Art. 353 Revised Penal Code.

Then in Art 354, it says: Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown…..

Article 353 enumerates the elements of the offense - that the defamatory statement be (1) public and (2) malicious. Then, Article 354 says malice is presumed, unless the offender can prove her good intentions.

So the burden of proof is shifted to the defendant? She must prove her good intentions? Isn’t it part of due process that the government must prove every element of the offense? The Congress has not only shifted the burden, it has made a finding of fact (the defamatory statement is malicious), which is a judiciary function.

I am not a fan of Pecabar, or ACCRA, or the “victim” law firm. Kung ako ang mag-re-recommend, si Saguisag na lang, or si Professor Alfredo Tadiar ng UP.

In a follow up comment atty36252 further stated:

My problem with this libel suit is the fact that Ninez was commenting on a public figure - Marcelo. She was pointing to Marcelo’s alleged corruption. The practice is corrupt because the public official was directing business traffic to his law firm. Of course, she had to mention the law firm; but the attack was on the public official, not the law firm.

Why did the law firm sue, not Marcelo, because commenting on a public figure is privileged, and the case would not have prospered. So this was a circuitous argument to get back at Ninez for criticizing Marcelo. I must admit it is a crafty argument.

I am not a lawyer so I leave the technicalities to the lawyers but one thing that struck me is that this libel law which Neal Cruz has been saying all along was copied in the US during the days of the duel is surely outdated and irrelevant in this day and age. To make matter worse atty36252 stated that libel does not even exist in the US today. Sadly, we have people like Alexander Adonis of the streaking butt naked Nogi Boy Nograles allegation languishing in a penal colony on a criminal offense that lingers on our penal code becoming an effective tool for the those who wield political power to silence their political enemies and the press.

Poor Juan dela Cruz paying billions of pesos maintaining a squandering President whose tenure is questionable at best and a Bastusan errr Batasan Pambansa (House of Legislative) whose insatiable appetite for pork barrel to the tune of billions of pesos still to this day can only come up with a proposition to remove imprisonment penalty on libel when it should be scrapped altogether. This is what people get; they pay these leaders at the expense of a sinking bankrupt economy just to trample on the right of their citizens to be heard is just too much. How much more abuse are the people willing to take? Now let us see if the Supreme Court will once again proved its mettle as the court of last resort maintaining their independence or do we see a see no evil, hear no evil, say no evil stance as in their last not so glorious decision favoring La Engkatada (enchanted) errr the president's henpecked errr men in invoking "executive privilege?"

Sadly the high incidence of impunity in the Philippines in disregarding the rule of law is one enormous formidable challenge that journalist has to deal with on a daily basis, just look at Reporters Without Borders in its Philippines - Annual report 2008. No wonder we see some Philippine journalist prostituting their profession whoever is in position because society's aberration has reached the lowest of the low where telling the truth puts one at risk of being imprisoned, maimed or worse killed is very likely. Until the journalist and the freedom loving citizenry collectively resist and fight for their rights instead of blaming the industry's scalawags we will be in this quagmire for the long haul.

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What's Up with Nogi Boy?

Ok maybe the question should not have been what's Up with Nogi Boy after he allegedly was seen running in his birthday suit as in bucked naked in a 5 star hotel lobby. If it is true it probably is not up errrr ok hehehe (really really evil laugh) I know what you are thinking but that is not exactly what I mean but why is the radio announcer Alexander Adonis still sitting in jail who reported this incident? What's up with Nogi Boy? According to Sunstar, which I quote:

Nograles, a known ally of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was allegedly told to run naked at gunpoint in a Manila hotel lobby by the enraged husband of his alleged paramour, Jeanette Lomanta. Like Nograles, Lomanta also filed libel case against Adonis and several other journalists.

Now what's up with Nogi Boy? Did he or did he not run naked in a Manila hotel lobby? Why is Jeanette Lomanta the alleged paramour also suing radio announcer Alexander Adonis for libel? To think that a person of this stature holding such powerful influential position as speaker of the house has the wherewithal and ability to steer the nation to greatness. So why respond in this sleazy manner? If the allegations were true, he has no one to blame but himself for putting himself in a very compromising position.

Prospero "Nogi Boy" Nograles the newly installed speaker of the house replacing long time speaker a fixture even Jose de Venecia father of NBN-ZTE botched dealer turned witness as it appears is the new poster boy of press freedom. He should be especially for introducing a bill proposing the abolition of the penalty of imprisonment for libel but increasing the fines for the offense. Now why is Alexander Adonis still sitting in jail despite a court order to post bail and paying for the bail for his release? For someone who is supposedly a press freedom advocate by introducing a bill eliminating jail time, why in the name of Hollywood streaking and the nudist colony is the man languishing in jail? The question really is why sue for libel in the first place? The poor radio announcer was just doing his job. What's up with Nogi Boy?

Have they no shame? Superintendent Benjo Tesoro, the warden of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm located in Sto. Tomas in Davao del Norte refused to release Alexander Adonis giving the petitioners National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, along with the primary petitioners’ lawyers Harry Roque and Rommel Bagares also serving as counsel of Adonis the runaround. What’s up with that Nogi Boy? Is it not that Nogi Boy is supposed to be the poster boy of press freedom? Why the maze of going through the red tape channels of going through the Bureau of Corrections, headed by director Oscar Calderon, the injustice department of SiRAULo GOONzales just to release an accused that already posted bail is just preposterous.

What’s up with that Nogi Boy? This is a clear violation of the rule of law but then again this administration and their cohorts seems to have no qualms planting evidence on the pretext of ridding society of drug dealers even announcing it in a press conference shows the kind of people running hopefully not in their birthday suits too, the affairs of the country. Well, Adonis case has been elevated to the United Nations High Commission on Human Rights by NUJP and CMFR, and the group Reporters without Borders are also involved and concerned with this gross violation of human rights aimed at stifling and harassment of practitioners of a free media. SEAPA (Southeast Asian Press Alliance) also condemns the continued detention of Philippine broadcaster Alexander Adonis, to quote:

A coalition of free press advocacy groups from the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, SEAPA sees Adonis’ continued stay in prison as an affront to, and indicative of, a flawed justice system that too often leaves the rights of the Philippine press vulnerable to powerful interests.

I can understand although I don’t agree with Singapore’s law on “insulting a public official” that carries a $5,000 fine and one year imprisonment because it is a dictatorship and the Philippines is not a dictatorial regime or is it? Not yet anyway, but at the rate these lawmakers and the law enforcement agency acting like hooligan bullies all it needs is a formal declaration of martial law to make it official.

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