Won't Say Nothing

I’m no journalist. All the writing ethics know-how I have is from seminars and workshops that I attended, and from Carolyn Hizon,  Francis Itturalde, and Apolonia Soriano – my publication advisers in college and high school (and also because I actually bothered to listen to them). The rest of the cause and effect of bad writing, I found out by getting bashed non-too-gently because of how I express.

I’m no journalist, but I kind of know how they work. They have editors to cross out faulty grammar as well as libelous paragraphs. Their ethics are hammered into them by years of experience and study. When they mature into the profession, most of them know how to write without being dragged into court. The rest of us could only try and emulate how they do their job.

An ordinary yuppie who’s actually socially aware, who’s got opinions on the RH Bill, on Senator Sotto’s alleged plagiarism of epic proportions, on his chief-of-staff Villacorta’s seemingly less than professional apology, and on whatever else bullshit the Idiot Society of the Republic of the Philippines has presumably immersed itself into, however, would probably just go off and rant without the wonderful guidance of an ethics and editors. And post it on his blog or Facebook page or tweet it.

This little Facebook brouhaha can get him a maximum of 14 years in prison. His opinion may create only the tiniest ripple in cyberspace -heck, some people might just scroll past his FB status- but he can get jailed for posting it.

I’m not writing a Big Brother fan fiction, just case you’re wondering.

I was in Senator TG Guingona’s Cybercrime Forum at Ibarra’s Garden last September 27. To be honest, I felt out of place, especially when I saw media men and women flock the event. I was an ordinary girl, with a crazy-ass blog, who writes about things that I care about for the heck of it. It’s really awesome if people actually take time to read my rubbish, but the point is I write because I need catharsis. I’m sure most nonpro bloggers feel the same away.

From L-R: Atty JJ. Disini, Red Tani of Filipino Free Thinkers, Senator TG Guingona
and Carlo Ople talking about the cybercrime law.

So think of how horrified I was to find out that the cybercrime law would include my online rants on Codswallop. Think of the many “oh my god”s I blurted during the open forum when, Senator TG and panelists Atty. JJ Disini and Filipino Free Thinkers representative Red Tani confirmed netizens have been committing numerous acts that shatter what the Senate Journal reports as the Sotto Amendment. The libel provision, which an allegedly cyberbullied Senator denied inserting (but later admitted, how fickle is that?), is so utterly general that it is possible for each of us to convict one other simply because we liked a post. How flippant is that?

Here are some the things that can get netizens indicted for libel:

1.       Traditional libel: you actually authored the thing. “Sotto is an idiot plagiarist”, “Pro-RH Bill people are spawns of Satan and abortionists” and the like are grounds for libel.

2.       RE-posting something which you did not even right.

3.       Liking.

4.       Commenting. “Hehehe”, according to Senator Guingona, would be grounds for libel.

5.       Criticizing the ACTION even if you don’t mention the person. As long as the person feels slighted by whatever you post, then it can be grounds for libel. Although my co-worker who’s taking up law said that this would be a very stupid case.

The Sotto Amendment documented in the Senate's Journal

Oh well. I guess I’ll see you all in jail, then. We’ll all probably starve to death too, since I can’t imagine the government supplying food to more than a million prisoners.

Here’s the gist of what I learned: everybody’s freedom of online expression is at stake. EVERBODY’S FREEDOM.

Once upon a time, I posted a comment in a group that I was invited to. This comment was seen in a bad light by the members of the group. I got about 107 responses and for about three days, there were posts about me, all of which are about how fat, arrogant, and ugly I was (Boy, that escalated quickly XD). There was even a comment that said, "ay buhay pa pala yun?"

I'm not saying I'm okay with it.  After all, it did make my heart beat faster and my blood boil. What a person says (online or otherwise) is a manifestation of their success or folly. But these people, whoever they are and whatever they say, have THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO SAY WHAT THEY WANT TO SAY. It can be stupid or smart, but it is their RIGHT. Nakalagay po sa konstitusyon na may karapatan ang mga taong ito na icriticize ako. KAYO.

Dear legislators, I was cyberbullied too. A lot of us are. We may rant about if for a bit, but I don't see any of us (who've been called a bunch of colorful names) fussing about it like kids. So that law which protects ordinary citizens? Revise it, because it doesn’t help. What it does effectively do is scare people into keeping mum about the bullshit the Idiot Society of the Republic of the Philippines has presumably immersed itself into.

We don't need that kind of protection (but condoms are much appreciated). We can take the heat.

The question to our legislators and so-called public servants, perhaps, is can you?

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/134988/24oras/ilang-gov-t-websites-na-hack-ng-anonymous-bilang-protesta-raw-sa-cybercrime-law