"The Senate President may not be joking, after all."
"The Senate President may not be joking, after all."
The controversial anti-terrorism bill passed by both Houses of Congress is now on the desk of President Duterte, awaiting his signature.
With so many sectors and denominations opposing the bill, it comes as no wonder that many lawmakers are withdrawing their support for it. I now am curious as to whether the President himself may be having second thoughts about signing this bill into law.
Senate President Tito Sotto was reported to have said in jest that with this bill, we no longer need martial law. What a joke!
Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution lays down the conditions of martial law: When there is rebellion or invasion, or when public safety demands it. This section provides that when a suspect gets arrested without a warrant, the person must be judicially tried within three days, otherwise he has to be released.
The anti-terror bill, meanwhile, provides that a suspect may be detained for as long as 14 days.
This makes the law worse than martial law. Sotto may not have been joking after all!
There are provisions in the proposed law that would make activism unlawful. Activists would include critics and anybody opposed to Duterte.
Sure, we need a law against terrorism, but not this one, Santa Banana!
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Another facing the country is the cloning of social media accounts. This presents a danger to national interest and security.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Privacy Commission should really look into this development. There is danger of replication so much so that privacy of individuals is compromised.
This is the problem with technology. It makes life so much easier, but it also poses serious risks.
Facebook should take a second, hard look at itself and its purpose.
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The House of Representatives, despite being in adjournment sine die until it resumes in July, has continued its discussion of the citizenship of Eugenio Lopez III, former president and CEO and now chairman emeritus of the ABS-CBN television network.
Can dual citizens own and manage mass media?
According to the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, dual citizens are considered 100-percent Filipino.
That may be so, but it may come to a point when somebody born in China, to naturalized Filipino parents, can own a mass media organization here. Under the law, that Chinese citizen is also a Filipino citizen.
Where do you think the loyalty of this person will lie?
I think Congress should enact a law banning dual citizens from owning and managing mass media companies.
Mass media can influence public opinion and policy. It’s just too dangerous to allow dual citizens to have this big a role in shaping what the public and what our officials think!
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Malacanang has announced that the second tranche of the Social Amelioration Program is now ready for distribution.
But given that Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Ano has a list of corrupt local officials (no less than 53!) who were discovered committing irregularities during the distribution of the first tranche, I fear that the same will happen.
So long as there is cash being distributed, there will always be sticky hands. There has to be a manner of giving help to the people without human discretion, Santa Banana!