Philippine anti-terrorism law

Cayetano echoes AFP chief: Social media sites ‘new battlefronts in fight vs terrorism’

Mara Cepeda

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Cayetano echoes AFP chief: Social media sites ‘new battlefronts in fight vs terrorism’

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano shakes the hand of AFP chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay on August 5, 2020. Photo courtesy of Cayetano's Facebook page

'We have to be prudent in what we do because we cannot trade security for our civil liberties,' says Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano shared the view of new Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay that social media should be regulated in the name of fighting terrorism.

Cayetano made the statement in a Facebook post as he shared a photo of him meeting the AFP’s new leader on Wednesday, August 5. 

Joining them in the picture were Deputy Speaker Ferdinand Hernandez of South Cotabato 2nd District and House committee on national defense and security chair Raul Tupas of Iloilo 5th District.

“Governments all over the world have recognized that social networking platforms are the new battlefronts in the fight against terrorism,” said Cayetano, who has long been defending Congress’ railroading of the anti-terrorism law. (READ: House of terror: How the lower chamber let slip a ‘killer’ bill)

“We have to be prudent in what we do because we cannot trade security for our civil liberties, nor can we have unrestricted freedoms that threaten the lives of our people,” added the Taguig City-Pateros 1st District congressman. 

The Speaker’s statement comes just 3 days after Gapay said he would recommend to the Anti-Terror Council (ATC) – composed of President Rodrigo Duterte’s top Cabinet officials – to include social media in the scope of the anti-terror law.

The controversial anti-terror law broadens the definition of terrorism and empowers the ATC to order the arrest of people it deems to be terrorists. 

It does not have any provisions explicitly covering social media use, “only writings.”

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, however, already said the anti-terror law should not regulate social media since doing so “would violate freedom of speech and discourse.” 

Lorenzana also said that when he sought to clarify Gapay’s stand on the matter, the AFP chief supposedly said what he wants to be included are provisions regarding the darknet – a network in the internet that is difficult to access where a lot of illicit activities occur, including coordination for terrorist attacks.

Veteran opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman said in a statement on Thursday, August 6, that Gapay’s proposal to regulate social media “validates the fear that the new law is weaponized to suppress freedom of expression and the right to dissent.”

“The Gapay statement extends the infringement of free speech to social media in general despite the absence of a specific provision in the ATA (anti-terrorism law) on regulating the internet platform,” said Lagman, who filed with the Supreme Court (SC) a petition asking the justices to strike down the law as unconstitutional.

“The inclusion of the regulation of social media as proposed by Gapay in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the ATA does not have any legal basis because the IRR cannot modify or amend the law,” added the Albay 1st District congressman.

Lawyers have warned that the law could be used to go after critics of the government on social media.

At least 22 petitions against the anti-terror law have been filed with the SC. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!
Clothing, Apparel, Person

author

Mara Cepeda

Mara Cepeda specializes in stories about politics and local governance. She covers the Office of the Vice President, the Senate, and the Philippine opposition. She is a 2021 fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship and the Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship of the UN. Got tips? Email her at mara.cepeda@rappler.com or tweet @maracepeda.