John Key asked to urge Filipino president to pass Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill

The Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) is asking John Key to urge visiting Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to pass the long-overdue Freedom of Information (FOI) bill.

In New Zealand, the Official Information Act has been in place for 30 years now. Like New Zealanders, Filipinos must be allowed to access information about their elected public officials. This is crucial in ensuring accountability and promoting good governance. The FOI bill must be passed if the Aquino administration is serious about taking the righteous path.

In the Philippines, while media and advocacy groups have asked Pres. Aquino to make a big push for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill which has been pending for 19 years, the Anti-Cybercrime Act was railroaded. On 12th September 2012, Pres. Aquino signed into law the Republic Act (RA) No. 10175 or known as Cybercrime Prevention Act. The law allows the Justice Department to summarily shut down a website, or a politician to stifle media with a libel threat.

PSNA noted that this week, an anti-mining activist in the province of Cagayan, Northern Philippines was arrested for libel after stating in Facebook the destructive black sand mining in Gonzaga municipality and the local authorities’ unbecoming behavior in dealing with those who oppose mining. more details: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2012/10/22/greens-slams-arrest-activist-due-facebook-post-249237

The cybercrime allows monitoring of ALL online activities without a warrant. A wide range of online activity could be considered libelous. Sharing a link, clicking "like" on Facebook, or retweeting could mean 12 years in jail. Even if you are not the original author of the material, just sharing it with someone online could land you in prison. The Philippine Supreme Court issued a 120-day temporary restraining order after it was flooded with 15 petitions asking for the nullification of the law. Media and citizens’ groups are calling for complete repeal of the law which threatens the Filipino people’s freedom of the press, speech and expression.

Reference:
MURRAY HORTON
secretary, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, Box 2450 Christchurch, New Zealand, cafca@chch.planet.org.nz

Five Questions for Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III

1. Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill vs the Cybercrime Law: Would you make the long-awaited push for FOI and heed popular demand to repeal the Cybercrime Law?

While media and advocacy groups have asked Pres. Aquino to make a big push for the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill which has been pending for 19 years, the Anti-Cybercrime Act was railroaded. On 12th September 2012, Pres. Aquino signed into law the Republic Act (RA) No. 10175 or known as Cybercrime Prevention Act. The law allows the Justice Department to summarily shut down a website, or a politician to stifle media with a libel threat. It allows monitoring of ALL online activities without a warrant. A wide range of online activity could be considered libelous. Sharing a link, clicking "like" on Facebook, or retweeting could mean 12 years in jail. Even if you are not the original author of the material, just sharing it with someone online could land you in prison. The Philippine Supreme Court issued a 120-day temporary restraining order after it was flooded with 15 petitions asking for the nullification of the law. Media and citizens’ groups are calling for complete repeal of the law which threatens the Filipino people’s freedom of the press, speech and expression.

2. Unabated Extra-judicial Killings: You pledged to obtain justice for the human rights victims under Arroyo but the killings persist under your watch. What were your efforts to make these stop?

At the end of Arroyo’s 9-nine year rule, the human rights group Karapatan recorded 1206 political killings, making Arroyo the President with the worst record of human right violations since the late dictator Marcos. When you assumed power in June 2010, there were great expectations that the killings would stop and the perpetrators would be hold accountable. We hear that as of September 2012, there have been 113 extra-judicial killings under your watch. Two of the victims were foreign missionaries who served amongst mining-affected protesting communities: Italian missionary Fr. Faustino Tentorio and Dutch missionary Wilhelmus Geertman.

3. Maguindanao Massacre Case: What are the prospects of resolution under your watch?

Almost 3 years after the 21st November 2009 horrific Ampatuan massacre that claimed the lives of 57 people including 32 journalists, 3 witnesses and 3 relatives of the victims have been killed. What can you do to improve the witness protection program for the Ampatuan massacre case and ensure speedy trial for this and numerous cases awaiting just resolution?

4. Political Prisoners: Any chance of granting presidential amnesty as your mother did?

Your father was imprisoned and assassinated under the Marcos dictatorship. There are over 400 political prisoners in state prisons around the country. Is there any chance of you granting presidential amnesty for political prisoners as your mother did when she assumed power after the Marcos dictatorship was ousted?

One of the youngest political prisoners is 21-year old Maricon C. Montajes, student of the University of the Philippines (UP) taking up Mass Communication major in Film. As a student of Mass Communication, it was natural for her to explore the countryside and seek to learn about the situation of communities. Maricon and two other youth were arrested during a raid conducted by the 743rd Combat Squadron of the Philippine Air Force in Taysan, Batangas, Southern Tagalog. They have been detained for over a year on trumped-up charges of frustrated murder and homicide, illegal possession of firearms and violation of gun ban.

Among the prominent prisoners are Alan Jazmines and Tirso Alcantara. Both are consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in the peace process with the Government of the Philippines (GPH). Jazmines reportedly suffered torture and maltreatment after he wrote a statement to the media about the deplorable living condition of political prisoners under police and military custody and for exposing the presence among them of at least three foreign nationals captured by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) elsewhere and detained there under the illegal practice of “rendition” by the American government. Alcantara had issued a signed affidavit detailing maltreatment since his arrest and hinted that he is being slowly poisoned by his captors.

5. Paramilitary Groups: When will these be disbanded?

Local and international human rights watchdog groups have been calling for revocation of Executive Order 546, a decree legitimizing the use of civilian military groups that have in fact been involved in a number of extra-judicial killings such as the case of Italian missionary Fr. Faustino “Pops” Tentorio. These paramilitary groups such as the notorious Bagani group seriously threatens the lives of civilians including Fr. Peter Geremia, chairperson of the Justice for Fr. Pops Movement.

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