By Mylah Reyes-Roque, VERA Files Tired of the slow pace of justice, relatives of 14 of the 58 fatalities in November 2009 Ampatuan massacre had…
Making life worth living.
Category: Media
I don’t harbor any illusion about security officials bothering listening to my phone calls or snooping on my messages. But I don’t like the idea of government agents intruding into private activities of people. That’s one of the reasons I chose Blackberry.
But one of the exposes of American IT expert Edward Snowden, formerly with the Central Intelligence Agency who is now in Hong Kong uncertain of his future, revealed that Blackberry is not at all that secure.
Last Friday, Facebook confirmed that it has released data related to national security requested by law enforcement agencies.
A statement by Ted Ullyot, Facebook General Counsel revealed that “For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000. These requests run the gamut – from things like a local sheriff trying to find a missing child, to a federal marshal tracking a fugitive, to a police department investigating an assault, to a national security official investigating a terrorist threat. The total number of Facebook user accounts for which data was requested pursuant to the entirety of those 9-10 thousand requests was between 18,000 and 19,000 accounts.”
The issue’s relevance has become urgent with the controversy caused by comedian Vice Ganda (who should appropriately be called Vice Vulgar), whose May 17 concert was made available to TV cable subscribers through pay-per-view.
In that concert, Vice Vulgar made tasteless jokes on Soho’s weight and said that if she were a boldstar, it would have to be gang rape.
Villareal said late last year, long before the Vice Vulgar’s offensive joke on respected broadcaster Jessica Soho, he met with officials of cable companies. They were asked to submit their inputs to help guide the government agency on whatever decision or regulation they will release. “We want to come out with something that is fair for the audience and fair for media,” he said.
JOY, 59
By ALEX MAGNO,The Philippine Star
I first ran into Joy de los Reyes over four decades ago, when barricades rose and the streets were on fire. We were combatants, members of what were called “composite teams,” militants expected to hold the line against police charges to protect the main formation of demonstrators.
We became unlikely but fast friends. He was from the Samahan ng Demokratikong Kabataan (SDK) and I from the chauvinistic Kabataang Makabayan (KM). He emanated from the public schools of Aklan and I from a suburban Catholic school. He was always disorganized and I was an obsessive-compulsive, task-oriented bastard. Besides, he had such an unlikely name.
He was studying to become an engineer and I was supposed to become a lawyer. Neither of us lived up to our original plans. Joy fell in love with philosophy and I became immersed in political economy.
Joy Cortes Delos Reyes, the Editor-in-Chief of Malaya Business Insight passed away May 3, 2013. He was 59. His remains lie in estate at his…
It’s not exactly false but some aspects of the truth may have been glossed over.
As the campaign for the 2013 elections heats up, spin doctors are becoming more creative that sometimes, I get startled by what I hear and read.
That’s the question lawyer Harry Roque posed to the Supreme Court justices to underscore the dangers of the Cybercrime Law. He referred to the three photos posted here:
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“We” refers to our group VERA Files and fellow petitioners namely Davao-based radio broadcaster radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis, lawyers/bloggers Harry Roque, Romel Bagares, and Gilbert Andres, legal officer of Media Defense Southeast Asia.
Our earlier petition filed last Sept 28 asked the Court to declare only the provision of the Cybercrimes Prevention Law on libel as being unconstitutional. In our amended petition, we asked the Supreme Court to expressly declare Art. 355 of the Revised Penal Code providing for the crime of libel also to be unconstitutional.
As explained by our lawyers, Harry Roque and Romel Bagares of The Center for International Law and the Southeast Asia Media Defense, “We’ve had to clarify that pursuant to the View of the UN Human Rights Committee in Adonis vs. Republic of the Philippines, libel under the Revised Penal Code is contrary to freedom of expression. In its annual report this year on the Philippines, the UN Human Rights Committee also decried that instead of complying with this view and repeal Art 355 of the RPC, the Philippines even expanded the coverage of libel through the Cybercrime Prevention Act.”
We have seen it in the last few weeks.
His certification of the Reproductive Health bill as urgent last week facilitated the passage of the measure which was vigorously opposed by the intimidating Catholic Church.
A few weeks ago, Congress also passed the Sin Tax Reform bill which cigarette and alcoholic drinks companies, with huge lobby money, were blocking.