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You Better Watch Out, Bloggers - You Better Not Cry! Internet Libel Law Passed In The Philippines `Disclaimer:` `These are the author's views and opinions. Any contents provided by yours truly in this article are not intended to malign, insult nor disrespect anyone or anything. Your views are highly respected. Thank you.` Well, hello there everyone. Another Facebook memory popped up on my feed and this happened sometime in November 2013 when the killer typhoon "Yolanda" hit the Philippines. Good afternoon. Let's go back to what I was saying - The Internet Libel Law In The Philippines. I am not into political topics and not so genius about the laws and stuff. However, since most of us here on read.cash are working from home, you know what's up. If you live in the Philippines, you know all about this and probably have a strong feeling either for it or against it. I have seen both opinions, but on the news as well as in Philippine news Facebook Pages I follow, I have seen "almost all" people being against it. Politicians really are the ones who benefit the most from this law in the Philippines because nobody is the center of negative attention and publicity more than them. It is all you see on TV, "scandal" is the most common term I see plastered everywhere. Now, the publishers of the articles such as News, Magazines, and Social Media like Facebook do tend to handle things more in a manner of reporting and less like opinion and judgment. The real people who are at risk are the private citizens, the angry voters, the cheated by the years of bad governance. When they see these articles they speak up, and they speak up "loud", in the "thousands". **As you know if I tell you something in person, maybe only 4 people will hear about it, but if I say something on the internet then thousands hear about it. Does that make sense?**

For Example, Typhoon Yolanda that I have mentioned above - not only did the destructive weather make news, but (I won't name names*)* politicians were photographed and named for doing things like plastering their faces on relief goods for election purposes causing people to wait for relief. Other politicians (I won't name names) took over a week to even go to Tacloban and devastated areas while other countries offering assistance got there first. So what does a libel law like this do? It hides the truth! Libel is defined as defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures. Anyone can claim libel and take you to court, especially in the Philippines and it only costs between Php 1,000 pesos and Php 2,500 pesos to file an affidavit of complaint against someone which is nothing to a politician. **Here is where the problem comes in.** The politicians have the money, not the people. Where are court proceedings? I'm guessing they would be in Manila (the main office - correct me if I'm wrong). Take me for example: I am about 8 hours north of Manila and if I am subpoenaed to court, I would have to travel 8 hours, pay to stay somewhere for more than one day likely, I would lose time from my daily home-based work and it is possible that I may not even be able to pay to appear or defend myself. What happens now? Without being able to defend myself, (even if not guilty) I would be arrested. Wow! Getting the picture? Censorship by the government to hide its flaws is looking strikingly similar to what the Communist China government does, isn't it? Be careful, bloggers. You better watch out. You better not cry!

That's all for now, my friends. Sorry for the boring topic lol. I'll be back in a few. I just go cook real fast, eat, then let's continue the fun in the read.cash house. Maybe I gotta go stop in Paris too and meet some of our read.cash friends over there, have some chitchats, and a coffee break. Have a good day wherever you may be.

One love @Bloghound https://read.cash/@Bloghound **#Bloghound** **#Bloghoundism** https://read.cash/search?q=%23Bloghound https://read.cash/search?q=%23Bloghoundism August 17, 2021 6:10 pm Philippines (The photos are my own and taken by me) **Copyright @Bloghound 2021. All Rights Reserved.** https://read.cash/@Bloghound/peculiar-piano-the-curse-e00813c3#copyright-at-bloghound-2021-all-rights-reserved `To my wonderful and amazing daily readers and my generous sponsors (old and new), THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!`

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