Wednesday, October 10, 2012
SOME Cebu City lawyers, as well as law students who launched an online campaign against the Cybercrime Prevention Act, welcomed the Supreme Court?s issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) yesterday.
The Supreme Court (SC) unanimously issued a 120-day TRO that will prevent the implementation of Republic Act 10175, which took effect last week.
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The TRO was issued as the Department of Justice (DOJ) was wrapping up a forum with online users and information technology representatives regarding the details of the law.
?We respect and we?ll abide by it. Our advocacy for a safe cyberspace and interdiction of organized crime will continue,? Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said.
The Banilad Legal Sophomores, an organization of law and information technology students of the University of Cebu, called on legislators to scrap provisions of Republic Act 10175 that, they say, violate basic human rights such as the freedom of speech and the right to privacy.
Control
?There is really something wrong with the law because the government is now allowed to control our freedom of speech? Freedom of expression is inviolable,? said the group?s Patrick Abing.
He urged legislators to hold public consultations before crafting the implementing rules and regulations of the law, so the public can air their views.
Although the group campaigned heavily against the law in social networking sites, Abing admitted that there are provisions that should be retained, such as those that penalize individuals who engage in cybersex and child pornography, hack websites, commit identity theft and perpetuate spamming.
?It?s laudable that the proponents of the law included these positive parts but there are just some provisions that need to be amended,? Abing added.
Since the temporary restraining order will be in effect for only 120 days, the group urged the public to remain vigilant and to speak up against questionable provisions when amendments are made.
Fourteen
Fourteen justices voted to temporarily stop the implementation of the law.
No official confirmation has been sent by the SC Public Information Office on the development, but a source said a copy of the one-page TRO stated that it is effective for 120 days or until February 2013.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and Justice Secretary Lima are required to comment on the petitions within 10 days while an oral argument has been set on Jan. 15, 2013 at the SC.
Fifteen petitions have been filed with the SC against Republic Act 10175, which critics saw as unconstitutional because some provisions like online libel allegedly violate freedom of expression, due process, equal protection, the right to privacy and correspondence, and the right against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Outside the SC, protesters welcomed the decision of the justices. Groups belonging to Bayan Muna and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) blocked Padre Faura St. where the SC building is located.
For a court to issue a TRO unanimously is a strong message of its belief that the dangers and fears of the people are real and must be addressed, said Senator Teofisto Guingona III, the lone opposition to the bill when it was passed in the Senate.
?Now, we must escalate our vigilance, keep the fire burning, and continue the fight for our fundamental rights. The fight of the people, on the streets and online, must continue,? he said.
Bad sign
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) congratulated the bloggers, netizens, human rights groups, people?s organizations, media workers and progressive legislators for standing up against the law.
?The unanimous vote is a bad omen for President Aquino who is remorseless, arrogant and unrepentant about the law he signed,? said Tonyo Cruz of the newly-formed group Bloggers and Netizens for Democracy (Band).
Lawmakers who filed separate petitions questioning RA 10175 lauded the Supreme Court?s decision to issue a TRO.
Party-list representatives Raymond Palatino (Kabataan) and Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna) said netizens should remain vigilant until the contentious provisions of the law are deleted.
?The credit must go to both the online and offline protesters who lambasted onion-skinned politicians and courted being charged with libel,? Colmenares said.
?This is an opportunity for the Palace to retract its hardline position on the issue, as we now have tangible proof that several of the law?s provisions are
unconstitutional and post threats to our countrymen?s civil liberties,? said Palatino, who, along with Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casi?o, filed House Bill 6613 to repeal certain provisions of RA 10175, including online libel.
Meantime, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano will likely file a bill that will decriminalize libel, joining Sens. Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero in the process.
Definition
?First, we will be taking out the defining of libel as criminal in nature and put civil liability instead.?Second, we will repeal the cyber-libel provisions in the cybercrime Law. Third is to amend the ?takedown clause? (on access to websites) also in the cybercrime law. Meaning we still have to uphold the law on prior restraint,? he said.
Lawyer Michael Yu, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines Cebu City chapter president, said the passage of the Cybercrime Prevention Act ?came like a thief in the night? when the country was preoccupied with the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona.
?Freedom of expression is a constitutionally protected right, therefore deliberations and discussions from stakeholders need to be encouraged so that we can come up with a law that will truly protect the citizenry,? said Yu.
Yu believes the media will learn its lesson ?to be on their guard at all times, lest we lose our only tool against tyranny.?
In 2010, lawyer Joan Largo recalled, the High Court rendered a decision ?expressing difficulty in finding the existence of libel in the Internet because the status of printing and first publication cannot be determined.?
?The question is, ?Has the Cybercrime Law addressed such concern?? While such is being threshed out, I think that the status quo should be maintained, especially that freedom of expression occupies a preferred status in the hierarchy of rights,? Largo, who is also the University of San Carlos College of Law Dean, told Sun. Star Cebu. (Sunnex)
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 10, 2012.
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Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2012/10/10/sc-blocks-law-cybercrime-247298
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