Philippines

The Philippines is one of the few countries in the world that has laws covering 10 different sorts of cybercrime, divided into crimes involving data (interception, alteration and theft), the Internet (interference and sabotage), access (hacking and spreading viruses) and crimes planned with others (cyber-criminals, fraud and forgery). But the government does not filter or block access to websites, which can be set up without any official procedures. However, non-government attempts have been made to control site content, especially pornography. The national Catholic Bishops Conference (CBCP) launched its own ISP, cbcpnet.com, in April 2000, equipped with a firewall blocking access to pornographic sites, which it said would make it safe for children. In June 2001, a bill (471) to protect students from the Internet was presented to Congress, requiring libraries in all schools and educational institutions to install filters to block access to obscene or violent sites. Anti-terrorism and threats to privacy and security Proposed new anti-terrorist measures, especially article 10 of House Bill 3802, drafted in the wake of the 11 September attacks would give the government a free hand to secretly tap any phone, cable or other means of transmitting any kind of written or oral messages, including conversations, discussions, news or data and to secretly record them. The measure clearly covers the Internet and e-mail messages. The definition of terrorism in these measures is also sufficiently vague to allow it to be applied to all kinds of lawful critics of the government. The national constitution emphasises freedom of expression but the proposed laws, at a time when the government is fighting Muslim separatists on Mindanao island, is a warning to groups that strongly oppose the government. Some clauses of Bill 3802 seek to protect against abuses in its application, but human rights activists still fear these safeguards will be easily got round. In May 2002, a group led by Congresswoman Liza Maza called it the "mother of all repressive laws." Others see the anti-terrorist measures as restoration of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos' anti-subversion law, which he used to crack down on his opponents. Links: Article on the anti-terrorist measures About freedom of expression in the Philippines The newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer Amnesty International's archives on human rights in the Philippines