What Miranda wanted to submit was a news clipping of an opinion piece by lawyer Jude Sabio in the Mindanao Goldstar Daily on Sept. 2, 2019 criticizing Trillanes and a column in the Manila Times by Rigoberto Tiglao about Sabio’s article.
In the press statement of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on the indictment of blogger Rey Joseph “RJ” Nieto for cyber libel, he said, “Nieto will now be brought to trial and face a penalty of at least prision correccional or imprisonment from 6 months to one year to 6 years should he be adjudged guilty of libel.”
This is what we have been fighting against without much success – the decriminalization of libel.
Not only did we lose the fight to decriminalize libel before the Supreme Court, Republic Act No. 10175 (The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012) even increased the penalty. For computer-related libel, the minimum punishment was raised twelve-fold, from six months to six years. The maximum punishment is doubled from six to twelve years in prison.
We recognize that the libel law has its merits – it’s a check against irresponsible reporting and abuse of the freedom of expression- but it should be downgraded into a civil offense.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is one of the five senators who did not vote for Senate Resolution 388 “Expressing the sense of the Senate supporting Proclamation No. 2016 dated May 23, 2017 entitled “Declaring a State of Martial Law and suspending the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus in the whole of Mindanao and finding no cause to revoke the same.”
Following is the transcript of Trillanes’ explanation for his negative vote.
TRILLANES: Let me just make it clear that my negative vote for this resolution does not mean that I do not support the military operations going on right now or that I do not sympathize with the people of Marawi and the people of Mindanao. I believe all of us here are supportive and we salute the efforts of the AFP, we laud their sacrifices for the country and we want to support them as best we can. But the issue here is about the correct response or the proportionate response of the government to this crisis, which I believe that this declaration of Martial Law for the whole of Mindanao is not the correct response. And in fact, we heard it during yesterday’s security briefing, the AFP and their defense establishment didn’t even ask for it.
Information empowers. But in the age of fake news which has found a fertile base in social media especially Facebook, lies being passed on as information have become a powerful tool for mass idiotization.
This occurred to us watching President Duterte regal the Filipino community in Saudi Arabia, with falsehoods which the audience lapped it up with gusto.
Before some 6,000 OFWs at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar last Saturday, Duterte repeated the false stories he had peddled before about Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and his fellow military officers stole utensil and beddings of the Manila Peninsula where they set up their base of resistance against the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after walked out of a hearing in Makati City Hall on Nov. 29, 2007.
The ‘perya barker”act, in the words of Sen. Grace Poe, of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre at the government-organized Luneta rally last Saturday triggered responses from different personalities which make for amusing exchanges.
Afternoon of Feb. 25 at Luneta , Aguirre, feeling triumphant with the arrest and incarceration of Sen. Leila de Lima on illegal drug charges, he agitated the crowd , “Sino ang gusto n’yo isunod? (Who do you want next?)”
The crowd shouted back, “Trillanes! “Trillanes!”
“The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.”
John Calvin -French theologian and reformer
The turnaround of SP03 Arthur Lascañas on the murders he committed as a member of the Davao Death Squad must have stunned Malacanang, all that it can come up with was Press Secretary Martin Andanar’s preposterous allegation that Senate reporters were given $1,000 each to attend the press conference morning of Wednesday at the Senate.
Senate reporters and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines slammed Andanar for the irresponsible allegation.
Andanar immediately backtracked finding himself trapped in quicksand of dubious press statements with his destabilization angle. The more he tried to wiggle out of his “destab” story, the more that his credibility sank.
The public should be more discerning this time with President Duterte’s bluster when confronted with the issue of his BPI bank accounts which have been recipients of deposits amounting to over P2 billion from 2006 to 2015 from several sources.
News reports Friday quoted President Duterte as ordering the Anti-Money Laundering Council to give information about his “net worth.”
The news item was based on what he said at the dinner with Philippine Military Academy class of 1967, where he is an honorary member, at Baguio City Country Club. This is what he exactly said:
“Kaya ang gusto ko lang sabihin sa inyo, because it’s politics again. It’s a rehash of what they… it is pure garbage. But you know I’m President, I’ve ordered AMLC and everybody to give information sa ano ang… what’s my worth in this… in terms of pesos in this planet. So hindi ko kayo hiyain. Walang anak ko o ako mismo, sa totoo lang. I have not signed any voucher even for myself. I only receive a salary and that’s it. I do not accept my allowances – wala po ako. I avoided it. And it will be so until the end of my term.”
Nakakaloka itong si Congresswoman Juana Change.
Nag gate-crash si Congresswoman Juana Change (ginagampanan ng artistang si May Paner) sa anti cha-cha rally noong Biernes at nilait-lait ang mga rallyista. Inulit niya ang sinabi ni House Speaker Prospero Nograles na wala silang paki-alam sa mga rally rally dahil ang desisyon tungkol sa charter change ay sa kamay nila nakasalalay, hindi sa mga mamayan na nagra-rally.
Tamang-tama yun para pumanting ang tenga ng mga nagra-rally. Kaya kahit medyo mahinahon ang simula (siyempre naman inter-faith rally kaya puro dasal ang simula) uminit na rin.
Sinundan ni Harry Roque ng Concerned Citizens Movement na simple lang ang malakas na mensahe: “Ayaw namin ng Cha-Cha, Lalo na kay Gloria.”
Mga Kapwa Ko Pilipino: Lubos akong nakikiisa sa inyo sa pakikipaglaban kontra sa Charter Change. Alam nating lahat ang maitim na hangarin sa likod ng…
Seven opposition senators petitioned the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday to allow their colleague, Senator Antonio F. Trillanes IV, to attend Senate session even under guard.
The seven senators are Senators Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., Benigno Aquino III, Rodolfo G. Biazon, Panfilo M. Lacson, Loren B. Legarda, Jamby Madrigal, and Mar Roxas.
They filed a motion to intervene in Senator Trillanes’ petition in GR No. 79817.