Guingona criticizes Cybercrime Prevention Act

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Teofisto Guingona III criticized yesterday Republic Act 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, as “prior restraint on the principle of the freedom of expression and freedom of speech.”

“This law sets us back,” he said.

“We cannot legislate morality. The Spanish Inquisition has long been disbanded. I do not know why we are reviving it today.”

Guingona said he opposed the passage of RA 10175 on constitutional grounds.

“I was concerned about prior restraint,” he said.

Guingona said some parts of the law attempt to legislate morality and penalize people for breaching accepted standards.

“I feel that as legislators, we have no right to dictate what people should or should not see,” he said.

“Unjustifiable prior restraint is an archaic policy that should not be in our statute books.”

Guingona said the law has problematic provisions like the one transplanting the Revised Penal Code definition of libel without specifying who is liable.

“This is problematic because in the case of online communities, people are encouraged to actually participate (make comments, re-tweet, repost on Facebook),” he said.

“With this law, editors and owners of these sites will be forced to lock down their websites and prevent people from commenting,” he said.