MANILA, Philippines — "Kailan pa naging tama ang pagpatay? (When is killing ever correct?)"
This was one of the questions posed Tuesday by Rep. Mujiv Hataman (Basilan) in his privilege speech on the shooting at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Quezon City campus last week as he swung at social media posts that praised shooting suspect Chao-Tiao Yumol.
"Kailan pa naging tama ang purihin at ilagay sa pedestal ang isang taong kumitil ng tatlong buhay, sa loob ng isang paaralan, at nandamay ng mga inosente?" Hataman said.
(When has it ever been right to praise and put on a pedestal a person who took three lives inside a school and even harmed innocent people?)
He said he is deeply bothered by the culture of violence prevalent in society and the propping up of killers of innocent people as heroes.
Rappler analyzed nearly 250 YouTube videos and over 2,300 Facebook posts mentioning “Yumol” from July 24 to July 26, and of these 56.6% of the posts supported or sympathized with him, while 45.4% of the videos were supportive of him.
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While Hataman expressed concern over the spread of online content supportive of Yumol, he stopped short of directly suggesting legislation to address this, noting that he is treading a fine line between protected and unprotected speech.
"Hindi natin kailanman isusulong ang anumang panukalang magsasagka o lalapastangan ng ating kalayaan sa pagpapahayag ng saloobin. Pero paano kung ang saloobin ay sumusuporta o nang-eengganyo na gumawa ng isang krimen?"
(We will never advocate for any law which would hamper or disrespect our rights to free expression. But what if this expression is supportive or inviting the commission of a crime?)
Instead, the Basilan lawmaker asked his fellow House members what else they could do about social media content that praises and supports crime.
"Huwag sana natin hayaan na masasanay tayo sa isang kultura ng karahasan. Hindi yan ang pagkatao natin bilang mga Pilipino. At higit sa lahat, hindi yan ang kulturang nais nating ipamana sa ating mga anak at sa mga susunod na henerasyon," Hataman said.
(Let us not allow ourselves to get used to a culture of violence. That is not our character as Filipinos. And above all, that is not the culture we want to bequeath our children and the next generations.)