By Juan L. Mercado
Philippine Daily Inquirer
8:31 pm | Monday, September 24th, 2012
“Brainless children boast of their ancestors,” an Asian proverb says. Sen. Vicente Sotto III basked in his grandfather’s achievements, notably the “Sotto Press Freedom Law.”
Authored by Sen. Vicente Sotto, Republic Act 53 shielded scores of journalists from revealing news sources. Remember the scandal of leaked test questions for 300,000 teachers in a civil service exam? In a probe, House members tried to ferret out informants. The late Philippine News Service’s Romeo Abundo and I invoked the Sotto Law. We are thankful and endorse the long overdue move to expand the law’s shield for broadcast.
At a Cebu Press Freedom Week panel discussion Friday, Don Vicente’s grandson ran into a buzzsaw. Did you snip the Penal Code’s libel provision, then paste it into the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012? reporters badgered Sotto.
On Jan. 24, 2012, Sotto piggy-backed the rider on the pending cybersex crime measure, Raissa Robles’ blog on the ABS-CBN website documents. Without public hearing, he expanded the old clause on libel to those “committed through a computer or any other similar means that may (emerge) in the future…”
Sotto III denied wedging Section 4-c (4) on libel into the new law, Sun Star Cebu reported. Not my fingerprints, thank you. But he backed the libel rider. Mainstream media are professionally trained and observe ethical standards, Sotto told Cebu Daily News. “But currently, social media doesn’t.” A number of online writers post without verifying data. “They are not accountable to anyone.”
He’s right. But gagging is not the answer. Presenting better reasons is. As a result, he is twisting in the storm that his first-denied-now-admitted amendment uncorked.
President Aquino signed the bill into law on Sept. 12. His signature came days before he visited the new museum, in a military fort, where his father and Sen. Jose Diokno were secretly imprisoned under martial law censorship.
“The Spanish inquisition has long been disbanded… Why are we reviving it today through constitutionally prohibited ‘prior restraint’?” asked Sen. Teofisto Guingona III. He was the only senator who bucked the bill because of, among other things, the Sotto rider. “A Supreme Court challenge is an option.”
“We will see the Aquino administration in court on this one,” Prof. Harry Roque of the UP Law School added. “There can be nothing sadder than suing the son of icons of democracy for infringement into a cherished right… Other laws enjoy presumption of regularity. This cybercrime law, insofar as it infringes on freedom of expression, will come to court with a very heavy presumption of unconstitutionality.”
“Prior restraint” restricts material from being heard or distributed at all. This is the “most extreme form of censorship” and is a constitutional no-no.
UP Diliman and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, meanwhile, banned the showing of the controversial anti-Islam video “Innocence of Muslims.” Roque pushed through with showing the video in his Bill of Rights class. Asked by the MTRCB to explain, Roque twitted back: “I do not have a license from your office (but) I have the Constitution.”
Read More
These are today's Suertres/Swertres Lotto tips; Yesterday's results are at the bottom
012**
066
128**
124**
129**
189**
----
145
147
247**
234**
Yesterday's Philippine PCSO Draw Results
For September 24, 2012 Monday
EZ2 Lotto
Morning 11am: 21-30
Afternoon 4pm: 31-06
Evening 9pm: 30-31
Winning numbers in exact order
Php 4,000.00 per 10 peso play
Suertres Lotto Luzon Vis-Min
Morning 11:00 am: 8-1-4
Afternoon 4:00 pm: 6-8-1
Evening 9:00 pm: 7-1-3
Winning numbers in exact order
Php: 4,500 per 10 peso play
4Digit Luzon & Vismin
9pm: 2-1-7-5
Winning numbers in exact order
Mega 6/45 National Lottery
13-35-17-22-03-10
Current Jackpot: Php 4,500,000.00
(1)winner
Winning numbers in any order
Grand 6/55 Lotto
12-17-23-44-51-25
Current Jackpot: Php 30,000,000.00
(0)winner
Winning numbers in any order
For best results, it is suggested to always employ rumble on the tips above.
* = Hot Numbers
** = Very Hot Numbers
Social Plugin