ON June 17, in an attempt to wash his administration’s hands amidst Maria Ressa’s cyber libel case, former president Benigno Aquino III stated that the cybercrime law should focus on pro-Duterte trolls who spread fake news.
“It was in this context that this law was signed. We believe that this is a law that can be used to go after trolls who make posts without basis.”
Mr. Aquino’s self-preservation tactic for his administration’s legacy comes to bite itself in the ass when it was he who signed the Cybercrime Law in 2012 disregarding the numerous petitions filed against it before the Supreme Court to strike it down for its unconstitutionality.
Although not all the parts of the Cybercrime Law are harmful to democratic rights, whatever good intentions it had were undermined by its section on cyber libel. The law in particular drastically increased the penalty for cyber libel from six months to six years in prison to six to twelve years in prison.
Human rights groups and progressive organizations had already warned of its possible dangers to Filipino citizens’ rights to free speech and dissent during his administration, yet Aquino simply dismissed these concerns, and it appears his attitude remains unchanged long after his term concluded. When asked about the potential misuse of the law in a recent interview, he even said “Anything devised or invented by mankind can be used or abused.”
Let us not forget that in 2012, it was Aquino’s liberal “democratic” regime that suppressed the freedom of speech of ordinary Filipinos through the unchecked passage of the cybercrime law. Today, it is Duterte’s fascist regime that benefits from the same law to silence its critics despite the facade of supposed respect towards freedom of speech.
Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK) asserts that while the Duterte regime is mostly to blame for how the cybercrime law had been weaponized against critical figures such as Maria Ressa, had Aquino himself addressed the concerns leveled at the law years ago, we wouldn’t be in as dire of a situation we are in today.
We don’t forget so easily, Mr. Aquino. We remember how you used the law to scare off critics and now it will continue to be a tool against those who harm the interests of the government and the ruling class. History is now judging you for your hypocrisy. No matter what justifications you use, you are far from being a champion of freedom of speech. (Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan)
