In the reign of President Aquino III, the Filipinos were slapped with two internet laws - the Data Privacy Act and the Cyber Crime Law. One protects the authorities from the prying eyes of the public while the other opens the public to the prying eyes of the authorities, especially the information in cyberspace.
It appears that every new regime wants to shackle the citizens and cut off their rights. In the past administration, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo almost proclaimed Martial Law for the whole country. (She did impose Martial Law for parts of Mindanao). Arroyo signed the Presidential Proclamation 1017, imposing a State of Emergency.
The Arroyo administration saw treason whenever a group of citizens met in a public place or marched in protest against government policies. This time, the Aquino administration sees treason in the writings of bloggers and even in Facebook and Twitter posts.
In 2006, Arroyo tried to use PP 1017 to harass and threaten mainstream media. Now, Aquino III tries to threaten social media with his Cyber Crime Law.
To promote her State of Emergency, Arroyo's government showed a TV documentary titled Fighting Treason:1017. Below is the review I wrote about the documentary. It was published in the PJR REPORTS in April 2006. PJR stands for Philippine Journalism Review.
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