The first day of the session for 2010 started with a draconian bill passing third and final reading at the House of Representatives (HOR).
The House leadership fulfilled its promise early this January that it shall fast track the Cybercrime bill.
That was Monday, January 18, 2009. A lot may not be aware but a draconian bill was being brewed at that time. After a few privilege speeches, the bill was deliberated at the HOR. The sole NO vote came from Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, as house journal shows. One hundred seventy five lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, 166 were present. (As of this writing, other Congressmen and Party-list Representatives might have already submitted their “no” vote).
===================================
Over the weekend, former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral filed a libel case against blogger "Ella", who posted her personal thoughts and observations about DWSD's non-distribution of goods stocked at the agency's warehouses.
That blog post earned the ire of a number of people: from netizens and bloggers, to many other concerned groups and individuals. The news came as a brazen insult to the well-being of the victims. Many thought how shameless of this government, through its social service department, to hoard such goods when many NGOs, groups and individuals at that time, have been raising heaven and earth to get enough goods as it could gather for the countless victims.
What message does the filing of libel case against a fellow blogger send to us?
It is alarming that even at this time when the Cybercrime Act of 2009 has not yet been signed into law, we can already sense a crystal clear picture of how this bill, once signed into law, can be used against us.
From the way the bill has been railroaded, you can already draw conclusion that this will be used against those critical of the government – that to record, upload, and write about the truth has no place in the government that will use every possible means to hide the truth. GMA has so many things to be afraid of: from the Hello Garci scandal to the many other unwritten, transgressions of GMA.
It is already election time. Note that this will be the first automated election in the history of the country. Automation connotes the use of technology. At this time of tweeting, blogging and microblogging, the people were empowered to bring news that a few media outfits have the power to do so.
The CyberCrime bill will indisputably pin down on people’s freedom to use the internet to bring fresh news to the people especially this year when many are keeping an eye on the automation.
We can still stall passage of this bill at the Senate. Let us spread the news that this anti-people, anti-blogger bill should be stopped.
Related links: The Danger with the CyberCrime Act of 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment