by Jojo Malig, ABS-CBNnews.com
Senator Tito Sotto inserted in the last minute a libel clause in the anti-cybercrime law, according to Senate records and his chief of staff.
Journalist and blogger Raïssa Robles revealed that Sotto's chief of staff, Atty. Hector Villacorta, confirmed that his boss added libel as a "content-related offense" in Republic Act No. 10175 that was signed last week by President Benigno Aquino.
“I can verify that,†Villacorta told Robles.
He did not tell her why Sotto inserted the provision found in the law's Section 4-C(4), which declares that online libel is now considered a cybercrime that can be punished under the Revised Penal Code.
Sotto, who has received flak online for allegedly plagiarizing the work of several people, including US bloggers and even the late Senator Robert Kennedy, earlier warned his critics to be wary of the anti-cybercrime law.
He claimed that he was "cyberbullied" on the Internet.
"Ako na po yata ang kauna-unahang opisyal na naging biktima ng cyberbullying. Buti na lang mayroon na tayong batas na tinatalakay diyan," he said in a privilege speech against his critics online.
Robles also revealed that the original versions of the anti-cybercrime law, House Bill 5808 and Senate Bill 2796, did not mention either "libel" or "cyberbullying."
Sotto's insertion of libel into the proposed legislation also did not undergo congressional public hearing.
Senate records show that Sotto added the libel amendment on January 24, 2012 (see pages 12-13 on embedded Senate journal below).
Sotto specifically targetted users of social media websites.
"Senator Sotto stated that there are numerous abuses in technology, particularly the video and photo uploading and unnecessary write-ups and comments in social networking systems," the Senate journal said.
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Topic: Senator Sotto Seguristang Dako When He Modified Cybercrime Law (Read 731 times)