In a move aimed at preventing the spread of anti-Chinese sentiment among the people, the provincial government of Catanduanes has officially requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) to conduct a thorough investigation into the obviously political black propaganda being circulated on social media.
The request of Governor Joseph Cua, who himself and his family are among those targeted by the message and its many iterations containing false and malicious accusations, comes two weeks after the message purportedly coming from a pilots’ Viber group alleged that Catanduanes has been invaded by mainland Chinese who have bought almost all of businesses and establishments on the island, including the Tribune and other local media entities.
Capitol computer experts are reportedly pointing their fingers at a former official whose handiwork in past elections reeked of political propaganda, including that infamous scattering of tawas-filled plastics with leaflets accusing opponents of involvement in illegal drugs.
It is claimed that one of the social media entities sharing the post in various sites bore a name associated with the former politician and campaign strategist.
At least two more personalities, one a former mayor and the other a once-aspiring would-be candidate, have been identified as behind the attack on the reputation of Catanduanes and its people, including the Filipino-Chinese community.
Under Republic Act No. 175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, both the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are mandated with enforcing the provisions of the law.
A cursory examination of the law finds that the only applicable provision to the fake news blackening Catandunganons’ reputation is Section 4(c)(4) on “the unlawful or prohibited acts of libel as defined in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.”
Art. 355 of the RPC defines libel as “a public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead, and committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.”
To be able to make a case for cyber libel, the authorities must make sure the damaging post contains the following elements: 1) an imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance; 2) the imputation is made publicly, which requires that at least one other person must have seen the libelous post, in addition to the author and the person defamed or alluded to in the post; 3) the imputation is malicious, which means that the author of the libelous post made such post with knowledge that it was false, or with reckless disregard as to the truth or falsity thereof; 4) the imputation is directed at a natural or juridical person, or one who is dead, which requires that the post must identify the person defamed, or at the very least, the person defamed is identifiable by a third person; 5) the imputation tends to cause the dishonor, discredit or contempt of the person defamed; and 6) the imputation was done through the use of a computer system.
The “China invasion of Catanduanes” message circulating on social media clearly satisfies all of the elements of cyber libel.
The question down the road is what the authorities, including the provincial government, will do about it once the perpetrators – those who posted, shared, commented or liked the libelous post – are identified with certainty.