Five petitions claiming the law is unconstitutional have been filed with the Supreme Court. The petitions all say the law infringes on freedom of expression, due process, equal protection and privacy of communication.
"Without a clear definition of the crime of libel and the persons liable, virtually any person can now be charged with a crime even if you just retweet or comment on an online update or blog post," Guingona told the Supreme Court. Law professor Harry Roque from the University of the Philippines, who filed another said, "The Philippines libel laws -- part of a penal code that was drawn up 82 years ago -- go against the trend in many advanced democracies, such as the United States and Britain, where defamation is now punished with fines rather than imprisonment."
However presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda has defended the law. "The Cybercrime Act sought to attach responsibilities in cyberspace... freedom of expression is always recognized but freedom of expression is not absolute." While De Lima said, “Ang magagawa na lang namin ngayo'y ayusin nang husto ang paggawa ng IRR, hindi ito nagba-violate ng fundamental rights including human rights.”
Cybercrime Law is not all bad as majority of us would think. It voids illegal access, misuse of devices, cyber-squatting, forgery, fraud, hacking, spamming, child pornography, cyber sex, identity theft & libel. Libel means tending to cause the dishonor, discredit of a natural/juridical person or to blacken the memory of one who is dead. Rules and regulations cannot cure defects in a law. Moreover, RA 10175 is a penal law. In other words, it commands obedience under pain of punishment.
If you are pointing out freedom of speech, there are other ways to express our feelings even if we do it through the Internet nowadays, there are still other ways. Since this law is clearly going to be implemented, we should adapt and obey our country's regulations. I think libel's concern ay maiwasan na ang pambabastos at pambabatikos. What freedom of speech are we talking about? Freedom na manira ng ibang tao? Libel aims to protect ones identity and rights especially the media and the government who often receive bad criticisms from others. Hindi malinaw ang mga provisions thats why each one of us is at risk of a long prison term.
I am not against the law neither do I totally agree to the law. I think it is too risky and dangerous. I also don't believe in what they say "freedom of speech will be taken away from us". The UN declares the Internet is now one of the basic human rights. It is true but what the officials are concerned about is how the people use the Internet. Social networks are major influences for us, Filipinos so we should learn how to take good care of it and be more careful in posting and dealing with anyone or anything. I hope everyone can see the good side of this. I also hope that the authority will listen to what its people say, not just what they want to hear and what they want for themselves.
"The greatest success stories were created by people who recognized a problem and turned it into an opportunity." I'm still hoping for the law to be revised. This only make the Filipinos hate their leaders. Why would our leaders continue to do things that will make their people hate them? They are leaders, they should act as one. We are the people, we need to speak out for the sake of our rights and the country's democratic stand.
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