World marks Right to Know Day
but it’s not more fun in PH

TODAY, Sept. 28, 2012, the world marks the 10th anniversary of International Right to Know Day.

In the last decade, 93 countries have passed Freedom of Information Acts, while scores of others have started to work in earnest to pass similar laws.

But to this honored roll of the strong, reformed, and revitalized democracies of the world, the Philippines does not belong.

Despite 14 years of relentless advocacy by numerous civil society organizations, and firm guarantees enrolled in the Constitution since 25 years ago, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and his Liberal Party-led coalition in Congress have failed to pass the FOI Act.

And instead of first defining the ambit of freedom by enacting FOI into law, they have chosen to proscribe the limits of freedom by rushing laws that are now widely held to be infringements in on the citizens’ fundamental rights to free speech, press freedom, and free expression.

After passing the Data Privacy Act, now comes the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

To be sure, the Cybercrime Prevention Act has its roots in bills first filed with 13th Congress (2004-2007), refiled in the 14th Congress (2007-2010), and refiled again in the 15th Congress (2010-2013).

In the beginning, a party-list lawmaker recalled that the National Bureau of Investigation premised the bill as one designed to combat terrorism, hence it promptly caught traction among legislators.

But in the beginning, too, the earlier versions of the bill did not carry the controversial provisions (Sections 6, 7 and 19) of the final version that the 15th Congress’s bicameral conference passed, and which President Benigno S. Aquino III signed into law on Sept. 12, 2012.

To set the record right on the morphing of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the PCIJ Research Desk tracked the history of the law from the 13th to the 15th Congress, based on the official records of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In the 13th Congress, at least four measures sought to regulate and penalize cybercrime: House Bills No. 1246, 2093, 2528 and 3777, which were authored by Representatives Eric Singson, Amado Espino Jr., Nanette Castelo Daza, and Harlin Abayon, respectively.

In the 14th Congress, at least 10 related House bills were filed. House Bill No. 6794 authored by Rep. Eric Singson was approved by the House and transmitted to the Senate. Its counterpart Senate Bill No. 3553 remained pending on second reading even after it had been certified as urgent by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Both H.B. No. 6794 and S.B. No. 3553 did not include libel as a “cybercrime offense.” Neither bills enrolled the double penalty clause.

In the 15th Congress, at least eight bills related to cybercrime were filed before the House, while 16 other similar bills were filed before the Senate.

Both H.B. No. 5808 and S.B. No. 2796 did not include libel as a “cybercrime offense.” Neither bills enrolled the double penalty clause.

According to news reports, the libel clause was included as an amendment by Senate Majority Floorleader Vicente Sotto on Jan 24, 2012. See. Senate Journal No. 46.

The double penalty clause, meanwhile, was apparently included only during the subsequent deliberations of the bicameral committee conference.

But on its way to passage and signing into law by President Aquino, copies of the latter versions of the measure suddenly became scarce.

The PCIJ could not find copies of the Senate bill that introduced the amendment on libel, the consolidated version of the two bills before the measure was enacted into law, and even the bicameral committee conference report, which would have indicated the changes made in the bill and the explanations for the changes by lawmakers from the House and the Senate.

The finer details of the final stages of the crafting of the law are possibly known only to the members of the bicameral conference committee that sent the bill to Malacanang.

From the Senate, the committee members are: Senators Edgardo Angara, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Antonio Trillanes IV, and Manuel B. Villar.

From the House, the committee members are Representatives Tinga, Yap, Singson Jr., Angara, Rodriguez R., Sarmiento C., Arenas, Quimbo, Golez, Sarmiento M, and Arroyo D.

In June 2012, news reports and press releases about the report of the bicameral conference committee did not disclose any information about libel and the double penalty clauses that would later appear in the final version of the law signed by President Aquino. – PCIJ, September 2012