ELEUTHEROMANIA

Marcos Regime.

Martial Law.

Suppression.

Freedom.

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Good day, my dearest RANTers!

The start of this post is kind of S-E-R-I-O-U-S (Not Mr. Black, if you know who I mean.) in one way or another.

Let us have a little bit of history first and, since tomorrow is the 27^th Celebration of the EDSA 1 Revolution, let’s start with President Marcos.

Ferdinand E. Marcos was the TENTH President of the Republic of the Philippines. His term was from December 30, 1965 until February 25, 1985. And he was known as a DICTATOR and the one who announced the Proclamation No. 1081 a.k.a the Martial Law on September 23, 1972.

Under this Proclamation is the suppression of the media in reporting any “bad news” from the government and of the suppression of the voice to speak out the opinion of each Filipino.

The Martial Law was only lifted on January 17, 1981; weeks before the pastoral of the late Pope John Paul II.

Just a year ago (Yep! One year already and I forgot about the anniversary of this blog.), I started “RaNts Of A Queer Guy” with the thought of me being able to voice out my opinions and thought on what is currently happening in the Philippines and worldwide that concerns health, health workers, and of the LGBT community since my other two Social Media Accounts, a.k.a. Facebook and Twitter, has a limit of number of words that you may only put in one post. So yes, that is one of the reasons why I started a blog site.

Oh, just a little bit of a trivia. The letters “R” and “N” are always emphasized because I am a “Registered Nurse” (I know. It doesn’t show on my face.).

Let’s get back on track, shall we?

My very first RANT was on February 26, 2013 and it was about what happened during the F-I-R-S-T Public Consultation of R.A. 10354 a.k.a The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 at the Venezia Hotel at Subic Bay. This is where it all started; my RANTing.

Then on March 1, 2013, as I was browsing my Facebook account (You already know about that now, don’t you?), I happen to stumble upon a picture of a statement of Mrs. Cynthia Villar about the Nursing Education. Then the following day, I happen to RANTed my opinion and thoughts about Mrs. Cynthia Villar (Which is kind of B-I-T-C-H-Y as one of my friends/colleagues said.).

Two days after I posted that RANT, I attended a Senatorial Forum at the Trader’s Hotel and the one on the platform when I arrived was Ms. Risa Hontiveros. She was asked by one of the media people present on what her thoughts are about the “Cynthia Villar, RN” issue. And on the same night, I once again RANTed my opinions and thoughts but now focusing on the issue itself and of the RH Law.

Then on March 10, 2013, I RANTed my opinions and thoughts about the reaction of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to the coming out of singer Charice Pempengco.

Then August 12, 2013 came. On that day, I RANTed about my thoughts and opinions about the SOCHI in Russia.

August 26, 2013, I watched PAMANA at the Meralco Theater together with my late friend’s sister. And this is the time in which the PORK BARREL Issue is still H-O-T, if you know what I mean. Once again, I RANTed my thoughts and opinions about that issue.

So, where do you think I’m going with all of these?

Let’s go back a few months ago.

Last September 12, 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the Republic Act 10175 a.k.a. “The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012”. Within this law, it is stated that cybersex, child pornography, and identity theft (Beware POSERS!), illegal access to data are considered CYBERCRIME OFFENSES.

Sounds good, right?

Then how about the “online libel” statement (Which was put on by a VERY INTELLIGENT SENATOR, by the way.) within the law?

R.A. 10175, Section 4., (c) (4)

“(c) Content-Related Offenses:

…(4) Libel.-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.”

What does it mean?

Nothing to fuss about, really. Just like or put a comment on the post about a certain well-known person (a.k.a. a GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL), then you’ll have a free ticket to the nearest prison near you (wink).

But S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y speaking, it only means that we NETIZENS now have a limit on what should be said on the internet.

We simply cannot tell JOKES about NATIONAL ISSUES anymore.

We cannot simply voice out our opposition to any enacted law.

We cannot post any satire that entertains us.

We cannot defend on the internet of what we think is right what is not.

We cannot post our thoughts and opinions about anything.

We don’t have ANY FREEDOM in the internet anymore.

With the ruling of the Supreme Court last February 5, 2014 stating that the “online libel” statement of the said law is CONSTITUTIONAL and with my previous RANTs about certain issues, I now could be put into jail.

In other words, the Philippines now have an “E-Martial Law” (Thank you, Mr. Senator!).

I now know the feeling of being suppressed to voice out your own thoughts and opinions.

I now know what my parents felt during the Marcos Regime.

And this cannot happen.

I cannot let my FREEDOM OF SPEECH be taken away from me.

I cannot let the Philippine Government takeover of my Social Media Accounts, specifically RAQG. I cannot let them dictate what I can and cannot post online.

I cannot let them take away my e-voice, a part of my being.

Should I be afraid now because of my constant bashing of other Governemnt officials and RANTs about certain national issues? I don’t think so.

Why? Because this fight isn’t over until I have my FREEDOM OF SPEECH preserved.

I am a Rainbow Ibarra; an ELEUTHEROMANIAC.

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