2/24/2014

ANALYSIS: How the Supreme Court voted on the Cybercrime Law | SciTech | GMA News Online
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ANALYSIS

How the Supreme Court voted on the

Cybercrime Law

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Status: Libelous sa 'Bawal ang Pasaway'

By MARLON ANTHONY R. TONSON February 24, 2014 4:08pm

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The Supreme Court ruling on the validity of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (Republic Act
10175) will be studied as a landmark case dealing with modern everyday information and
communication technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet, cellular phones, and social media.
The 50-page majority opinion or ponencia was penned by SC Associate Justice Roberto Abad,
who is set to retire this year on May 22. Five justices, including the chief justice, were in the minority
who disagreed with some legal points in Abads ponencia in particular, the treatment of cyberlibel,

War vs. online libel shifts back to Congress

advocacy groups
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cybersex, and unsolicited commercial communications or spam.

The high court promulgated its ruling a week ago on Tuesday,
February 11which, incidentally, was marked worldwide as the

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Global Day against Mass Surveillance and Safer Internet Day.

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The ruling, however, was made public just a day before the
weekend.

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checkup

The ruling made no mention about the high court lifting the
temporary restraining order it had imposed indefinitely to prevent
RA 10175 from taking effect. But SC Public Information Office chief
Theodore O. Te said that online contents posted prior to the

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days ahead SWS
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issuance of the SC ruling, including the period of the temporary restraining order (TRO), are not yet
covered by the law.
Read: Internet libel in cybercrime law constitutional SC

Majority opinion, plus 4 separate opinions

Only 13 out of the 15 justices sitting on the high bench took part in the voting, with SC Associate
Justices Presbitero Velasco having inhibited from the case in 2012 and Estela Perlas-Bernabe taking
no part in the deliberation.
Seven SC justices fully agreed with Abads ponencia, either as to the results striking down some
provisions while upholding other provisions as well as the reasoning behind these results, or both.
But five SC justices decided differently.
Four justices wrote their own separate concurring and dissenting opinions. This means they
disagreed with some of the results and reasonings in the ponencia, which they did not reject entirely.

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2/24/2014

ANALYSIS: How the Supreme Court voted on the Cybercrime Law | SciTech | GMA News Online

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Aranal Serenos 43-page opinion focused on invalidating only two
provisions in RA 10175. As for the rest of the assailed provisions of the law, she said there was yet
no actual case or controversy to warrant their review by the high court.
SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpios separate opinion was the shortest at 32 pages. The
youngest SC Associate Justice, Marvic Leonen, wrote the longest at 99 pages.
Associate Justice Brions 35-page separate opinion was joined in by Associate Justice Jose Catral
Mendoza which meant Mendoza agreed with all of Brions positions in this case.

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Vote tally on cyberlibel, regular libel

News to Go: PNoy: Kung

tama ang sinasabi. hindi
dapat kabahan sa online
libel

The Supreme Court ruling modified the Cybercrime Prevention Act by striking down provisions found
"repugnant" to the Constitution. But some justices sought to reach out and declare void also some
provisions in the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

Unang Balita: 'Enhanced

version' ng anti-cybercrime
law, isusulong ng DOJ

During the oral arguments last year, Carpio pointed out to Atty. Harry Roque that the infirmity of
cyberlibel in section 4(c)(4) of RA10175 was rooted in the infirmity of regular libel itself found in the
83-year old penal code of the Philippines. With leave of court, Roque amended his petition to ask that
the crime of libel in the RPC also be stricken down as unconstitutional.

News to Go: Atty. Disini,

ikinatuwa ang pagdeklarang
unconstitutional ng
takedown clause sa
Cybercrime Law

However, the majority ruled to retain unscathed the RPC provisions on libel, while clarifying that

News to Go: Sotto, iginiit

na hindi labag sa freedom
of expression ang online
libel

cyberlibel under RA10175 would apply only to original authors of blog-posts, social media statusposts, and tweets, but not to those who merely share, comment, or like those posts or tweets.
Leonen sought to invalidate entirely cyberlibel in RA10175 and regular libel in the RPC.

More SciTech Videos

On the other hand, Carpio sought to invalidate the RPC provisions on libel, but only insofar as to libel
complaints filed by public officers and public figures against ordinary private citizens. He explained
that RPC libel provisions on presumption of malice run afoul with the Free Speech clause of the
Constitution.

Related photos

Brion and Mendoza voted to join Carpio in this regard.

Notably, Carpios separate opinion virtually passed over ruling on cyberlibel, but indicating that
modifying the RPC libel provisions would necessarily result in also modifying cyberlibel because
Section 4(c)(4) of RA 10175 impliedly re-adopts Article 354 without qualification (emphasis in the
original text of Carpios opinion).

SC says Internet libel

in cybercrime law
constitutional

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The chief justice voted with Brion, Mendoza and Leonen to declare unconstitutional the provision
raising the penalty for cyberlibel.

advertisement

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ANALYSIS: How the Supreme Court voted on the Cybercrime Law | SciTech | GMA News Online

Vote tally on cybersex, spam

Carpio and Leonen both voted to strike down section 4(c)(1) prohibiting cybersex.
Carpio lamented that upholding the cybersex provision turns back the clock of free expression
protection to the late 1960s and beyond when prevailing mores of morality are incongruous to 21st
century realities.
Leonen went further and said it seems that we, as a society, are being thrown back to the dark ages
with RA 10175s cybersex prohibition.
Leonen was the sole justice who wanted to uphold RA 10175 section 4(c)(3) on unsolicited
commercial communications which is commonly refered to as spam a provision that the majority
has ruled to be unconstitutional.

Vote tally on cyber surveillance, take down

As expected, the ballyhooed take down clause which would have allowed authorities to restrict or
block access to websites upon mere due cause without a court-issued warrant was stricken down
as unconstitutional by a unanimous vote. Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza had conceded early on
that the take down provision found in section 19 of RA 10175 was invalid and his office even declined
to defend it.
Likewise unanimously stricken down was section 12 of RA 10175, on the real-time collection of traffic

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ANALYSIS: How the Supreme Court voted on the Cybercrime Law | SciTech | GMA News Online

data. Although agreeing with the result the junking of the traffic data provision Carpio, Brion,
Mendoza and Leonen cited different reasons to arrive at that same conclusion. TJD, GMA News
Attorney Marnie Tonson specializes in media law. He is part of the Philippine Internet Freedom
Alliance (PIFA) legal team and signed the 15th petition filed against RA 10175. A UP College of Law
graduate, he has worked in the Senate and the Supreme Court. Last year under the auspices of the
Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA), he delivered lectures in Davao City, Cebu City, and UP
Diliman on the PIFA Human Rights Framework to protect internet freedom and digital rights.

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ANALYSIS: How the Supreme Court voted on the Cybercrime Law | SciTech | GMA News Online
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