The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Tuesday, July 19, asked the House leadership to investigate what it called the “digital martial law” of closing down and blocking websites of progressive groups, organizations, and independent media by various government agencies, including the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and the controversial Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).
(Sergey Zolkin/ Unsplash)
Through House Resolution (HR) 49, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro called on the House’s Committee on Human Rights and Committee on Public Information to conduct a probe into the blocking of such sites by the NTC, ATC, National Security Council, former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Jr., and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
"We are already in digital martial law with the constant attack against press freedom and free speech and the attempts of the government to silence media entities that report what is happening to our fellow Filipinos and how they are affected by the anti-people policies of this administration," Castro said.
She stressed that the NTC, NSC, and the NTF-ELCAC “have no legal basis” to block the websites of Save Our Schools Network, Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura, Pamalayakaya Pilipinas, AMIHAN National Federation of Peasant Women, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Bulatlat.com, Arkibong Bayan, Pinoy Weekly, International League of People's Struggles, Counter Punch, International Action Center, and Monthly Review “without adequate evidence to support their claim".
There was “nothing, whether express or implied” on Executive Order (EO) 546, series of 1979 and Republic Act (RA) 7925 or the Public Telecommunications Policy Act—the charter and enabling laws for the NTC—that empower these agencies to block access to websites without a court order, the solon claimed.
Castro maintained that even RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act, under which the ATC or NTC operates, made no mention of such power.
"We urge the incoming House Leadership to seriously and urgently table House Resolution 49 and investigate the illegal and unconstitutional blocking of websites of independent media, progressive organizations, and international organizations," she said.
The websites have been blocked based on a June 8 NTC memo requested by Esperon against at least 25 websites.
The official linked the websites to alleged terrorism and terrorist activities.
Though the Philippines is the only country in Asia where freedom of the press is enshrined in its Constitution, the country remains the 7th most dangerous place for journalists according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in 2021.
Only Somalia, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Mexico are ranked higher.
The report noted the culture of impunity against journalists in the country, as well as its “weak judicial mechanisms".