The Philippine CyberCrime Prevention Act of 2012 is a continuing behavior of the Aquino Administration – or rather the Aquino regime to slowly remove the liberties of Filipino citizens. The first attack on constitutionally protected liberties was on the right to travel of former President Arroyo. Second was the gross miscarriage of justice in the kangaroo Corona court. Act Three will be coming very shortly.
It will no longer be Arroyo, or Corona, but it’s ALL Filipinos – you and I – whose constitutionally protected liberty of speech will be under attack for all sorts of issues that people can come up with. Fortunately – truth can stand on its own.
Act One: Trapping the Bogeyman
When we allowed Aquino , DeLima , and the entire government machinery to block the freedom of movement of former president Arroyo, we gave our consent to ride roughshod over these constitutionally protected liberties. But, for the most part – a lot of us let it slide. Oh well serves Arroyo best because she was evil – hmmm – does that qualify as a libelous statement if it cannot be substantiated under a rule of law that she is evil – and those those who call her evil can be punished with the Philippine Cybercrime act – even if they came up with the law – or if they signed the law. Interesting thought.
But I digress, why did we let it slide – because we thought it can only happen to Arroyo – but not to us. We even took part in spreading the lies. But then as always – causality has a way of coming back to us. Yesterday – Arroyo’s constitutional liberty of freedom of movement was violated. Today – everyone’s liberty of freedom can be violated anytime, anywhere, any place based on frivolous presumptions.
Act Two: The Battle for the Soul of the Judiciary
Act Two was highlighted by the crucifixion, not of Corona , but of the already dying justice system. Dying not because of the lack of will to live – dying because it is being choked to death unless it gives up its soul or what’s left of it. And yet the alleged Arroyo court of old thought and decided independently of the executive – as it should be. But no, we just had to satiate our lust for blood.
Today, we have a judiciary – I don’t know what to make of it yet. Whether it is a judiciary that interprets the applications of the law with the guidance of the constitution – or have they too been prevailed upon by power of the purse – taxes that’s our payroll tax, property tax, road use tax, clearance fee – and whatever scam the government can think of to take your money away from you and I – remains to be seen.
Act Three: The Yellow Road is Red: How Orwellian Can it Get?
The humiliation that the former executive was made to undergo signaled to her former support base – “what I can do to her I can do to you too” – was – and still is – not in the radar screen of the ordinary Filipinos.
That’s because they were treated to a visual cornucopia by the crony media 24/7 – virtual brainwashing under the guise of news and feature reporting. A masterfully timed set of press releases and surveys that would attempt to bolster an image or a mirage of humpty dumpty’s new clothes – a two tiered economy – one for the rich and all the credit ratings upgrades and all the glitz and glamor. And another for the poor – made up of the self-re-enforcing telenovelas which glorify poverty and demonize success.
And when the perception becomes the reality – or the lie is repeated often – it starts to become the truth of most Filipinos – a life of perpetual poverty – and hatred of success, including their own.
Individuals of course can only take poverty – AND TYRANNY for so long. Sooner or later something’s gotta give.
The content of new media is not controlled by the cronies of the Philippine government – or the cronies themselves. Old media – meets the competition – new media. Where old media is subservient to authority – new media’s creed is the individual is the authority. Certainly there will be conflicts and there will be lingering fires and flames but truth, reason, and logic always has a way of rising to the top. And when reason is propagated faster, unhampered by the chains and regulations of mainstream media – it challenges, nay, it competes in the market of ideas – innovation is unleashed. Lies and deception can come through the same route, too.
To dispel lies and defamation – fight it with the truth – and not by restricting the facts. After all there’s a lot of gems that can be distilled from lies – as acts to divert attention from the truth.
By restricting the objective, the measurable, observable and verifiable, the spatial, and the temporal – no matter how uncomfortable it may sound we lose out on what actually may be truth which improves our lives and makes it better. By denying ourselves access to information from others – and others from us – we fail to make well-informed decisions – which in the end, closes avenues and opportunities for improvement, change, and prosperity.
The Roots of The Philippine CyberCrime Act of 2012: Finger points back to us
The Philippine CyberCrime Act of 2012 did not come about by magic. It came about through the leaders we chose during the previous elections. It came about from our intolerance, our xenophobia of other ideas. Or it can also stem from an aversion from the truth – and the lies that we force upon ourselves – that everything is okay, that tomorrow will be better – that there is always hope. You bet there is – the catch is – you are the hope, you are the one who chooses – not the politicians.
If taken in the context of the RH Bill – ain’t it funny that the pro-RH were so quick to deprive the liberty of other taxpayers from their income – and today – are crying hell, their liberties are also under attack. The circle of life – what goes around, comes around. To the pro-RH netizens – be careful what you wish for from government- it might be granted – and more – but always at someone’s expense. That someone can be YOU.
In the coming elections – vote for politicians who will decriminalize online libel and print media libel. You owe it to yourself – not to anyone else, specially a yellow humpty dumpty.
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