ON THE FIRST OBSERVATION OF NATIONAL PRESS FREEDOM DAY The Philippines observes its first National Press Freedom Day today, August 30, 2022, after former president Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11699 on April 13. However, we recognize that continued media repression, threats to free expression, and journalists’ […]
POLICE ARREST EX-VP CANDIDATE WALDEN BELLO FOR CYBER LIBEL Former vice presidential candidate and Laban ng Masa chairperson Walden Bello was arrested for two counts of cyber libel by the police on Monday, August 8. Bello’s arrest was confirmed by his executive secretary and Laban ng Masa spokesperson Leomar Doctolero. […]
DIGITAL SERVICES TAX, DIGITAL GOV’T SERVICES: TECH PRIORITIES FROM SONA 2022 President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, July 25, addressed Congress in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), with some points of his 74-minute speech touching on technology-related issues. President Marcos Jr.’s 19 priority bills include the E-Government […]
FAKE JOB TEXT SCAMS LIKELY TO PERSIST AS JOBLESSNESS WORSENS Rising indices of Cybercriminals using text messages to trick mobile phone users into visiting malicious websites to obtain their personal information, including banking information, credit cards, and addresses. Authorities have attributed the cause of these incidents to rising unemployment. According […]
SC: PHOTOS, MESSAGES FROM FB MESSENGER ADMISSIBLE AS EVIDENCE The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that photos and messages obtained by private individuals from a Facebook messenger account are admissible as evidence in court. The ruling was based on a 31-page decision by Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez after the conviction […]
STARLINK SET TO DELIVER BREAKTHROUGH INTERNET SERVICES TO PH SOON The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) speedily approved SpaceX-Starlink’s requirements that will allow the country to enjoy breakthrough internet services through the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite network constellation consisting of over 1,600 satellites. Starlink promises to deliver […]
INT’L OBSERVERS: MAY 9 PH VOTE FALLS SHORT OF FREE, FAIR ELECTION STANDARDS The election was “not free and fair”. Séverine De Laveleye, a Belgian parliamentarian, said this as she presented the interim report of the International Observer Mission (IOM) on the May 9 elections. The IOM, which was launched […]
PPCRV FINDS 1.6% MISMATCH IN ELECTION RETURNS The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the private sector partner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported mismatches between the printed election returns (ERs) and those sent to the poll body’s transparency server. Van dela Cruz, the spokesperson for the PPCRV, […]
DUTERTE VETOES SIM REGISTRATION BILL DUE TO MANDATORY REGISTRATION OF SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS Pres. Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed the proposed Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act, Malacañang said on April 15. The provision ordering the mandatory registration of social media accounts prompted Duterte to veto the measure, acting presidential […]
COMELEC FORMS TASK FORCE TO GO AFTER PEDDLERS OF FALSE INFO VS POLL BODY The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc approved the creation of a task force that seeks to crack down on individuals and entities propagating election-related disinformation – specifically against the poll body. Commissioner George Garcia said […]