Netizens beware. Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention
Act, which among other things provides for blocking certain computer
data and for longer prison terms for those found to have committed
libel, is now in effect.
The cybercrime law becomes effective starting Wednesday because the Supreme Court has not issued a temporary restraining order sought by various individuals and groups opposed to the new law.
“The Supreme Court did not issue a TRO in the Cybercrime
Prevention Act of 2012 petitions which are up for further study,” said
Ma. Victoria Gleoresty Guerra, acting chief of the high tribunal’s
public information office.
The justices held their regular full court session Tuesday with
10 justices in attendance. Guerra said four justices were
absent—Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin and Mariano del Castillo were
attending a conference in Croatia, while Roberto Abad was on personal
leave.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said RA 10175 would take effect
even if it did not have implementing rules and regulations (IRR).
“Effectivity of that law is not conditioned upon the adoption of
the IRR and the setting up of the Office of Cybercrime. No legal
impediment for the law’s implementation, given the absence of a TRO or
injunction,” she said in a text message to reporters.
Seven petitions have been filed in the high court questioning the
constitutionality of several provisions of the new law and asking it to
issue a TRO.
The law raises to more than 14 years in prison the cumulative
penalties for a single act of online libel. It also guarantees
imprisonment as the accused is ineligible for probation.
Most disturbing
Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a lawyer, described as “most disturbing to
many” Section 19, which says: “When computer data [are] prima facie
is found to be in violation of the provisions of this Act, the DOJ
[Department of Justice] shall issue an order to restrict or block access
to such computer data.”
The petitions were filed by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, Alab ng
Mamamahayag party-list group, businessman Louis Biraogo, a group led by
lawyer Harry Roque and columnist Ellen Tordesillas, cyberlaw experts led
by lawyer Jose Jesus Disini, a group led by Representatives Raymond
Palatino of Kabataan and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers, and another
group led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and National Artist for
Literature Bienvenido Lumbera.
Guingona said he was disappointed that the Supreme Court deferred the hearing of the petitions.
“I respectfully ask the high tribunal to resolve the issues and
act on the petitions immediately to prevent further harm to our
cyberusers. The implementation of the law will take back our citizens to
the Dark Ages where freedom of speech and expression was not
recognized,” he said.
Guingona said he would continue to be with
the citizens and Internet users in “this fight to ask the Supreme Court
for a temporary restraining order and to finally repeal some vague and
oppressive provisions of the newly enacted law.”
“Let me say this once again, the state has
no right to gag its citizens and convict them for expressing their
thoughts. The Philippines is a democratic country,” Guingona said.
“The Filipinos should never be left to
cower on the sidelines—their thoughts and voices should not be shackled
by fear and intimidation. The people should not be afraid of its own
government,” he added.
Palatino also decried the Supreme Court’s
inaction on the petitions. “To that we say, absence makes the Internet
grow darker,” he said.
He was referring to online protests against
the law, which consisted of blacking out websites and profile pictures
in social networking sites.
Black placards
As the justices met, about 100 members of
the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance (Pifa), composed of different
organizations of netizens and bloggers, staged a “silent protest” in
front of the Supreme Court building on Padre Faura Street in Manila to
show their opposition to the law and to call on the justices to issue a
TRO.
With their mouths covered with black
electrical tapes, the protesters carried plain black placards and a huge
streamer printed with the words, “Stop Cyber Martial Law.”
“The cybercrime law is undemocratic and has
negative implications on the right to free speech and privacy. The
cybercrime law is testing our country—whether we’re truly a democracy or
just a democracy on paper,” said Red Tani, president of Filipino
Thinkers, a member of Pifa.
Ayeen Karunungan, council member of
Dakila-Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, said it was ironic that
while the country was commemorating the 40th year after the declaration
of martial law and crying “Never again!” the cybercrime law was signed.
“Real democracy allows the right to free
speech as it is fundamental in people’s participation in governance.
Enacting the law is the death of that right,” Karunungan said.
Pifa has called on people who could not
attend street protests to do “an online blackout” of their websites and
social media pages.
On Facebook, some members have replaced
their profile pictures with black screens and logos protesting the
cybercrime law. Others posted “shaded” comments to demonstrate their
fears of possible government censorship of online activities.
Seeking amendments
As online protests intensified, lawmakers moved to amend the cybercrime law on the eve of its implementation.
Sen. Francis Escudero, who earlier admitted
to missing the inclusion of libel in the new law when he voted in its
favor, on Tuesday filed a bill seeking to repeal the provision.
“[With] today’s modern technology, the
crime of libel does not only prove antiquated but to the contrary even
overarching as a state tool to restrain freedom of speech,” Escudero
said in his explanatory note in Senate Bill No. 3288.
Escudero said this was evident in the
passage of the cybercrime law which broadened the coverage of the crime
of libel to include even those with the use of “computer system or other
similar means that may be devised in the future.”
“This must never be countenanced if only to
remain consistent with the constitutionally prescribed freedom of the
press,” Escudero said.
Online petitions
The delay in the high court’s decision on the petitions will give other groups an opportunity to file a similar suit.
Pifa said it would file its petition against RA 10175 on Monday.
The National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines said it would file a separate case. It posted its petition
online (http://www.nujp.org/no-to-ra10175/) to solicit signatures from
individuals and organizations.
Kabataan party-list group set up an online
petition
(http://www.change.org/petitions/junk-the-cybercrime-prevention-law)
calling on President Aquino, Congress and the Supreme Court to junk the
law. It had gathered 36,000 signatures as of 4 p.m. Tuesday.
In the House of Representatives, Bayan Muna
Rep. Teodoro Casiño and Palatino filed a bill also seeking to repeal
several provisions of the cybercrime law.
One degree higher
Casiño said one of the threats in the new
law came from Section 6, which says that all offenses defined under the
Revised Penal Code (RPC) and special laws, such as libel, committed
through information and communication technologies, shall be charged
with a penalty one degree higher than that provided in the code.
“By imposing a penalty one degree higher
than what had been stated in the RPC on libel, longer prison terms are
guaranteed for persons found to have published or posted material
containing libelous remarks online,” Casiño and Palatino said in the
explanatory note.
The lawmakers also assailed the provision
that allowed government agencies to disclose, preserve, search, seize
and destroy computer data.
The law, they further said, would have a
“chilling impact” on bloggers, online journalists and other Internet
users because websites could be taken down without due process.
Casiño said amending the law would bring it
back to its original intention of combating websites on child
pornography, data and identity theft, and other Internet scams.
One of the House authors of the law, Aurora
Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, said he was open to discussions about
amending the measure. He said he was amenable to making penalties for
libel civil rather than criminal.
