To those who are not yet aware of how libel is being defined in the Philippines, here is the definition of LIBEL per Article 353 of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.
Definition of libel. — A libel is public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.
The definition absolutely contains a lot of gray areas. One of our publications clearly stated that in the Philippines, 'LIBELOUS' act is prone to interpretation which is undeniably unfair and unethical. The censorship kills our freedom to express our thoughts and hinders us from establishing a democratic conversation online. With those gray areas, only rich people can afford to tweak that in an instance. So that means, "Retweets, Facebook 'likes' ARE ALWAYS libelous" whenever they want it to.
My countrymen, we are heading to 'ONLINE MARTIAL LAW". Our constitution clearly states our freedom of expression as stated in Artcile III (Bill of Rights) Section 4:
No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.
Why the hell these lawmakers could not understand the resentment of the Filipino netizens?
DiversityHuman.com is trying to unite the Filipino people. Many patriotic bloggers are sacrificing to pay premium online hosting services just to reach to all Filipino around the globe but why our public officials are the ones trying to separate and cut our conversations on the web?
Let's stand and fight for our freedom! No to 'Online LIBEL' censorship!
Breaking News: Cyber-Perling, Esperlita Garcia, allegedly arrested due to Libelous Facebook post