Republic of the Philippines TO OCT 2012
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES “40
Quezon City MY,

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 6631

Introduced by Hon. ANGELO B. PALMONES:

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Freedom of expression is one of the basic rights of a person. In this day and age when digital
media is the new means of information sharing and social networking sites are the new avenues
to interconnectivity, the ordinary person is given the chance to access information quickly and
share their thoughts and opinions promptly and in “real time”.

But what if these liberties afforded of social media becomes regulated? The recently enacted RA
10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 caused an uproar after it was published. The
law included a provision on penalizing libelous statements made on internet avenues such as
weblogs, electronic bulletin boards, social networking sites (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google
Plus, etc,), even in news organization website forums, and other internet sites that will be
determined to be applicable to in the future.

Section 4 (¢ ) ( 4 ) applies the provision stated in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code as its
basis to penalize an offender and that the penalty to be imposed on an offender shall be a degree
higher than that stated in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code.

In July of 2012, House Bill No. 6391 entitled “An Act to Decriminalize Libel and for other
purposes” was submitted to Congress. By the title itself, the bill aimed to repeal the libel
provision stated in the Revised Penal Code. Some reasons for the submission of this bill include
the following:

(1) that the Philippines is a signatory to the 1966 United Nations General Assembly
Resolution on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was
ratified by the Philippine Senate in 1986. Non-compliance of a state to the Covenant is a
breach to the agreement;

(2) that Section 4 of the Bill of Rights, as stated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, states
that “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, expression, or of the
press ...";

(3) that in a review of the libel provision in the Revised Penal Code, the United Nations


Human Rights Committee during its 103" session last October 2011 observed that libel is
“incompatible with Article 19, Paragraph 3 of the Covenant.”

With the inclusion of libel in RA 10175, this becomes a new way to gag media practitioners and
the common “tao” opinion makers from being truthful in content and honest in their lamentations
of things that they encounter day to day including their thoughts on local and national issues.

The law is noble in nature however the inclusion of libel needs to be repealed soon to avoid
further jeopardizing our citizens’ rights afforded to them by the Constitution and the State.

cs

LO B, PALMONES
Representative, AGHAM Party-list


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
Third Regular Session

1
HOUSE BILL NO. 6634

Introduced by Hon. ANGELO B. PALMONES

ANACT
REPEALING SECTION 4 ( C ) ( 4 ) OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10175, OTHERWISE
KNOWN AS “AN ACT DEFINING CYBERCRIME, PROVIDING FOR THE
PREVENTION, INVESTIGATION, SUPPRESSION AND THE IMPOSITION OF
PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”

Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
SECTION 1: Section 4 (¢) (4) of Republic Act No. 10175 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 2: Repealing Clause — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof
which are inconsistent with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 3: Effectivity Clause ~ This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication
in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,