Ang bagyo ng tae sa panahon ni Rodrigo Duterte
Daan-daan kundi man libo-libo ang mga Facebook Page na itinayo na para magkalat ng fake news at upang maging plataporma ng mga kampanya ni Duterte sa pulitika at laban sa kanyang mga katunggali. Sa katunayan, marami-rami na rin ang tinanggal ng FB mismo dahil sa pagsususpetsang pangunahing daluyan ang mga ito ng pekeng balita.
Karaniwan na ang modus operandi sa bagay na ito: Ang mga administrator o tagapamahala ng mga pahinang ito ay nagpopost o “nagtatanim” ng mga pekeng balita na kontrobersyal o nakakapagpakulo ng dugo. Malimit na maingat at eksperto ang pagkadisenyo ng mga inimbento o pekeng balita na ito upang magkaroon ng maksimum na impak sa mga makakapanood o makakabasa nito. Pagkaraan ng ganitong pagtatanim, may mga troll naman na nagsisilbing mga tagapaypay o manggagatong ng mga sentimyento ng mga ordinaryong FB user sa pamamagitan ng paglalagay ng mga nakakapukaw na komento o pag-click sa mga reaction. Hindi maikakaila na kapag sinuri ang mga FB user na nagre-reply sa mga maiinit na post sa mga naturang pahina, mapapansin na ang karamihan sa mga ito ay mga ordinaryong mamamayan lamang. Kapuna-puna ang FB page ng mga propesyonal na troll na halos dalawa o tatlong letrato lang ang laman at halos walang interaksyon sa mga kaibigan.
Marahas at puno ng mga insulto ang pananalitang karaniwang ginagamit ng mga troll at admin sa mga personahe na itinuturing nilang kalaban ni Duterte. Paulit-ulit at halos parang pormula ang mga insulto at bayolenteng pagmumura. Ang nakakapagtaka ay kung paano nakikisabay na rin nang maramihan sa ganitong mga pananalita ang mga ordinaryong mamamayan na tagagamit ng FB na nagkataong maka-Duterte lamang. Malamang ay hindi karaniwan sa kanila ang ganitong pananalita. Dito mapapansin ang proseso ng pagsunod sa “modelo.” Ang pinaka-modelo o inspirasyon sa pagmumura ay tiyak na si Duterte mismo, tinutularan siya ng mga namamahala sa mga FB page at ng mga troll. Dahil nagiging bagay na nakasanayan na at normal ang ganitong pananalita sa larangang pampulitika at napakitaan na ng ilang “modelo” ng wastong paggamit ng wikang ito, maaari nang makisakay ang marami na hindi naman karaniwang ganito ang pamamaraan ng pananalita. Kapag nakita nilang “okay lang” pala ang ganitong marahas na pananalita ay naeengganyo silang makisama na rin na may iba’t ibang antas ng kasiglahan.
May mga katangian din ang mismong disenyo ng mga platapormang social media na nakakaengganyo ng ganitong mga pamamaraan ng pananalita. Unang-una, hindi kaharap ng ng mga nagpopost ang taong kanilang minumura at pinaggigilan, anonimo ang komunikasyon. Ikalawa, may ilusyon na pribado ang komunikasyon sa pagitan ng mga “magkakatulad” mag-isip. Ikatlo, sinususugan ng ganitong uri ng media ang estiilong kagyat at pabugso ng pagapahayag na hindi na gaanong pinag-iisipan.
Ang mga post ng mga admin at ang mga susog ng mga troll na nakakatanggap ng maraming reaction at reply ay maituturing na bukod-tanging matagumpay na mga post. Ang mga libo-libong reply at reaction ay lumilikha ng tinatawag sa terminolohiya ng Internet ng “shitstorm” o “bagyo ng tae.” Ang mga admin ng mga pahina at troll ang nagtatanim at nanggagatong sa mga binhi ng mga bagyo na ito. Ngunit hindi nila makakayanan na lumikha ng malalaking mga bagyo kung hindi lumalahok ang ordinaryong mga tagagamit lamang ng social media. Kapansin-pansin ang mga “bagyo ng tae” na nalikha sa paligid nina Sen. Leila de Lima at ng Secretary General ng Bayan na si Renato Reyes.
May mga pananaw na nag-aakalang “ispontanyo” ang mga bagyo ng taeng ito. Totoo naman na may mga ispontanyong bagyo ng tae. Gayunpaman, dapat pag-ibahin ang mga ispontanyo sa di-ispontanyong mga bagyo ng tae. Malalaking halaga na ngayon ang inilalagak ng mga pulitiko sa social media upang makaimpluwensya ng mga pampulitikang pananaw ng mga tao. Sandatang pulitikal ang bagyo ng tao na mapangwasak, hindi lamang sa mga kalaban sa pulitika ng rehimeng Duterte, kundi sa mismong konsepto ng komunikasyong pampulitika. Nararapat lamang na makahanap ng mga bago at mapanlikhang kontra-sandata ang mga kilusan at pwersang naghahangad ng tunay na pagbabago sa lipunang Pilipino.
Panagutin sila
Naibalik man sa ibang lugar ang suplay ng tubig matapos ang ilang linggong pagtitiis, katakut-takot na gastos at abala naman ang dinulot nito sa mga karaniwang Pilipino. Lunod na lunod naman ang mga Pilipino sa pagpapalusot at pagtuturuan ng Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) at Manila Water Company sa kawalan ng suplay ng tubig sa ibang bahagi ng Metro Manila. Sila, ayon sa batas at mga kontrata, ang dapat managot
Samantalang sa kasunduan naman sa Manila Water, nakalista sa Artikulo 5.1.2. ang kawalang-tigil ng suplay bilang isa sa mga obligasyon ng kompanya. Sinimulan na ng komite ng Senado na tumututok sa pampublikong serbisyo ang pagdinig para sa biglang pagkawala ng tubig sa kanlurang bahagi ng lungsod, na nagsimula pa noong Marso 6.
Sa bagal at kawalan ng maayos na tugon, kinailangan pang saluhin ng mga volunteer na bombero ang pagseserbisyo sa mga tao. Hindi bayad ang serbisyo ng mga bomberong lumilibot sa mga komunidad upang makapaghatid ng makakayanang tubig sa mga residente. Paminsan pa nga’y umaabot ng sampung oras ang kanilang shift.
Nang tanungin ng Senado kung magbibigay ang Manila Water ng diskuwento sa mga naapektuhan ng gawagawang krisis, tanging tugon lang ng kanilang presidenteng si Ferdinand Dela Cruz ay ang pagaaral ng Manila Water sa sunod na mga hakbang. Kung nababahala ang Manila Water sa maaaring pagbawas ng kanilang kita, lumilitaw lang ang likas na pagkaganid ng korporasyong hindi bababa sa P3-Bilyon ang kinikita kada taon.
Kung gaano kabilis ang pagkawala ng tubig sa libo-libong kabahayan, ganoon naman kabagal ang tugon ng MWSS at Manila Water. Kita na mismo sa batas ang pananagot ng MWSS, ngunit hindi pa rin nakapaglilinaw ang kanilang opisina sa mga hakbang pasulong. Sa Manila Water naman, patawad pa lamang ang naiaalay, kahit hindi masasapatan ng ano pang paghingi ng tawad ang libo-libong ginastos ng mga Pilipinong hindi na nga matahimik sa taas ng presyo ng mga bilihin.
Sa ilalim ng batas, malinaw kung sino ang dapat managot. Kailangang itulak ang Kongreso na masusing imbestigahan ang Manila Water. Isama na rin ang Maynilad, na hindi naman kaiba sa Manila Water sa oryentasyong unahin ang kita bago ang paglilingkod. Kailangan ding uriratin ang MWSS, na kasapakat ng dalawang water concessionaires kapwa sa paghuhuthot sa mga konsiyumer at sa maiitim na balak nitong tulad ng pagtatayo ng mapanirang mga dam.
Sa pakikipaglaro ng gobyerno sa mga negosyante, ang tanging malinaw pa lamang ay kung sino ang naagrabyado: masang Pilipino.
Sa krisis sa ekonomiya, #MayMagagawa
Mula sa Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)
Sa pagtatapos ng taong 2018, lalong lumala ang krisis sa ekonomiya. Pinakamataas ang inflation sa loob ng isang dekada. Dumami ang nakakaranas ng gutom at nagsasabi na sila ay mahirap. Hirap ang tao na makahanap ng murang bigas. Humihina ang palitan ng piso kontra dolyar. Lumalaki ang depisito sa kalakalan. Bumabagal na ang ipinagmamalaking “pag-unlad” sa Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Kakarampot naman ang umento sa sahod na ibinigay sa mga manggagawa.
Pinirmahan na rin ni Pangulong Duterte ang Rice Tariffication Law na nagluluwag sa pag-aangkat ng bigas, para diumano pababain ang presyo ng bigas, pero makasisira naman sa lokal na agrikultura. Wala ring katiyakan na kapag kontrolado na ng pribadong interes ang pag-import at pagbenta ng bigas ay bababa ang presyo nito sa mga lokal na pamilihan.
Madalas sabihin ng pamahalaan, lalo na ni Duterte, na wala tayong magagawa sa nagtataasang presyo ng mga bilihin. Sadyang hindi raw tayo nabiyayaan ng kalikasan sa langis. Sadyang kailangan daw nating mag-angkat ng langis at pati na rin bigas at iba pang pangangailangan. Obligado raw tayong itaas ang buwis para pondohan ang mga proyekto ng gobyerno.
Ang masaklap pa, ang mga sektor na kumikilos laban sa kahirapan, gutom at pambubusabos ay lalo pang ginigipit at sinusupil. Totoo nga bang wala tayong magagawa? Sadya bang nakapako na tayo sa kahirapan? Pagsang-ayon sa gobyerno at pagtitiis na lang ba ang tanging pagpipilian?
May magagawa
Ang mga problema natin sa ekonomiya ay nakaugat sa mga patakaran at sistema ng ekonomiya. At gaya ng maraming bagay, ang mga patakaran ay maaring palitan batay sa ano ang pangangailangan ng mga mamamayan, kapag ang mga namumuno ay daladala ang interes ng nakararami. Sa kongkreto, maaaring tugunan ang nagtataasang presyo sa pamamagitan ng mga sumusunod:
- Bawasan ang pabigat sa mga mamamayan. Tanggalin ang Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (Train) Law at dagdag na mga buwis na pahirap sa mga mamamayan. Una na rito ang excise tax sa langis. Pag-aralan din ang pagtanggal o pagbawas sa Value-Added Tax (VAT) sa panahong nagtataasan ang presyo ng langis. Pag-aralan ang pagpataw ng windfall tax sa mga kompanya ng langis na sobra-sobra ang kita.
- Mura at sapat na suplay ng pagkain. Lagyan ng ceiling ang presyo ng pangunahing mga bilihin. Labanan ang mga nagsasamantala sa presyo, halimbawa ang rice cartel na nagmamanipula ng suplay at presyo ng bigas. Ibasura ang Rice Tariffication Law at paunlarin ang lokal na agrikultura. Lakihan ang binibiling bigas ng National Food Authority (NFA) mula sa lokal na mga magsasaka at tiyakin ang suplay nito sa mga merkado. Bigyang prayoridad ito kaysa sa malawakang importasyon ng bigas para matiyak ang murang bigas sa merkado habang suportado ang mga magsasaka na nagtatanim ng palay
- Serbisyo, hindi negosyo. Itigil ang mga planong pagtaas ng singil sa tubig at pamasahe ng LRT. Itigil ang pagsasapribado ng public utilities upang hindi ito pagkakitaan ng pribadong mga kompanya. Tanggalin ang mga hindi makatwirang bayarin sa singil sa kuryente. Itigil ang pagbabayad ng maanomalyang mga utang.
- Regular na trabaho, nakabubuhay na sahod. Kagyat na regularisasyon at direct hiring ng mga manggagawang nagtatrabahong mahigit anim na buwan na gumagampan sa mga trabahong esensiyal sa produksiyon. Pagpasa ng batas para sa P750 pambansang minimum na sahod.
- Itigil ang korupsiyon. Alisin ang nakatagong pork barrel sa Kongreso at Ehekutibo, at habulin ang mga kurap at malalaking tax-evaders upang matiyak ang koleksiyon ng kita ng gobyerno at ilaan ito sa mahahalagang serbisyo publiko. Lalo pa’t panahon ng krisis, napakalaking krimen ang pagwawaldas ng pondong publiko na dapat sana’y magagamit ng bulnerableng mga sektor.
* * *
Pero hindi dapat tumigil dito. Mas malalim at pundamental ang problema ng ekonomiya. Upang malutas ang krisis, kailangan ng pagbabago sa kabuuang direksyon at programang pang-ekonomiya. Kailangan ng makabayang programa sa ekonomiya.
- Bigyang prayoridad ang pagpapalakas ng agrikultura bilang economic base, pagkukunan ng kabuhayan ng nakararaming Pilipino at tagapagtiyak ng suplay ng pagkain ng bansa. Nakaangkla ito sa seryosong pagpapatupad ng reporma sa lupa.
- Simulan ang programa para sa pambansang industriyalisasyon na may layong tugunan ang batayang mga pangangailangan ng bansa, lumikha ng trabaho at bawasan ang pag-asa sa imported na produkto. Gawing prayoridad ng gobyerno ang pagpapalakas sa lokal na industriya. Bigyang ng pansin ang pagmamanupaktura para sa lokal na pangangailangan. Gamitin nang tama ang likas yaman ng bansa para sa pagpapaunlad ng ekonomiya sa halip na pang-eksport o pangangailangan ng pandaigdigang pamilihan.
- Magpatupad ng progresibong patakaran sa pagbubuwis kung saan hindi sa karaniwang tao, higit lalo sa mahihirap, nakapasa ang mabigat na tax burden sa pamamagitan ng indirect taxes tulad ng VAT.
- Palitan ang economic managers na sunud-sunuran sa dayuhang interes ng mga makabayan na magtataguyod ng makabayan at maka-mamamayang patakaran sa ekonomiya.
* * *
Kung may malakas na tulak mula sa mga mamamayan, maaaring ipatupad ng gobyerno ang mga pagbabagong ito. Dapat ding gawing election issue ang krisis sa ekonomiya, at hamunin ang mga kumakandidato na ilahad ang tindig nila sa usapin. Huwag tayong pumayag sa sagot na “wala tayong magagawa”. Kailangan ng agaran at pangmatagalang aksiyon sa mga problema ng bayan. #MayMagagawa para ibsan ang krisis, kung babaguhin lang ang pananaw sa ekonomiya at paglilingkurin ito sa interes ng mas nakararami. #MayMagagawa kung mamamayan, hindi mga dayuhan at iilan, ang uunahin ng pamahalaan.
#MayMagagawa kung magtitiwala sa kakayanan ng mga Pilipino na tumayo sa sariling paa at hindi palagiang nakaasa sa mga dayuhan.
Karapatan dares gov’t not to thwart probe of rights violations in PH
“We echo the same challenge to the Duterte government and its rabid gang of militarists: If indeed human rights organizations are merely spouting lies to defame the government, then do not block efforts by the ICC (International Criminal Court) and United Nations Independent Experts to investigate these human rights violations that we have reported and exposed.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Human rights group Karapatan dared the government to welcome the initiatives of national and international groups to look into the reported human rights abuses in the Philippines. This after the Philippine government has formally asked the European Union (EU) to stop its funding of groups they accused as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) which include Karapatan.
“We echo the bold statement of this government, and hurl it right back at them. If you have done nothing wrong, you have nothing to fear. We repeat our call for the Duterte government to welcome national and international investigations on alleged human rights violations in line with the war on drugs and the government’s counterinsurgency program,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.
According to a news report, the government, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF), has formally requested the EU to halt funding organizations which includes Karapatan, Ibon Foundation, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, the Alliance of Health Workers, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela and Lumad schools such as Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV), Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. and the Salugpungan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center, Inc.
Open to address allegations
Unlike the government, Palabay said her group is open in addressing the allegations of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF) by asking for dialogues with the European Union and other governments.
She said they are confident that the more than two-decades of Karapatan’s human rights advocacy for the marginalized will refute the red-tagging schemes of the government.
They reiterated that the human rights violations they have raised are all “based on actual reports from communities, leaders, sectors, and human rights workers on the ground.”
It is clear, she said, why the government is very persistent in undermining their work and discrediting their organization. “We are being singled-out, harassed, and our work criminalized because of our advocacy to continuously expose human rights violations and initiate efforts and campaigns to hold the Philippine government accountable as the primary duty-bearer of human rights promotion and defense,” Palabay said.
But instead of addressing the issue, Palabay said, the Duterte government and the NTF only resorted to “maligning organizations that refuse to be mouthpieces of this government.”
“Their plan is to harass every critic, call them terrorists, communists and enemies of the State, incite violence against them, move to defund their organizations, and ultimately silence those who challenge their narrative,” Palabay added.
“We echo the same challenge to the Duterte government and its rabid gang of militarists: If indeed human rights organizations are merely spouting lies to defame the government, then do not block efforts by the ICC (International Criminal Court) and United Nations Independent Experts to investigate these human rights violations that we have reported and exposed.”
Silencing groups critical of Duterte administration
Progressive women’s group Gabriela also slammed the allegations against them.
“In an obviously concerted propaganda effort timed at the 50th anniversary of the NPA, the AFP has launched a media offensive by feeding the media with recycled ‘communist-terrorist’ accusations in various articles in print and online media. Reports from our members also indicated that they have put up tarpaulins with the false propaganda accusing Gabriela and other organizations as NPA fronts,” the group said in a statement.
They said this accusation is only meant to silence groups who are up in arms against neoliberal policies and what they called as “unabashed submission to the dictates of US and China.” But the group said no amount of vilification can stop them to provide services for women.
“Gabriela members in our chapters refuse to be at the mercy of circumstances where the government pushed them. Instead of being unproductive, they brainstorm projects that would provide livelihood to their families and the whole community,” they said.
“Gabriela facilitates the funding for these projects. Where the government has failed to provide, we offer alternatives. Foreign governments, especially in the EU, have seen their plight and believed in their capacity to overcome economic challenges and thus approved funds for their projects,” they added.
They urged the foreign government as well as the public to be critical and not to be easily persuaded by what they described as “fake news” being peddled by the Duterte government and the AFP.
Both Karapatan and Gabriela vowed to remain steadfast amid the intensifying vilification by the government.
“Despite the threats and continuous red-tagging, human rights defenders are here to stay and confront these desperate lies against us, unlike this cowardly government,” Palabay said.
She dared the Duterte government to issue official invitations to UN independent experts who have long-standing requests to visit the country, including UN Special Rapporteurs Agnes Callamard, Michel Forst and Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.
Karapatan also called on the EU and other governments to “review the funding that they give to the Philippine government and its arms deals with the AFP and the PNP, as these may be used to fund State terrorism and kill more Filipinos in line with Duterte’s war on drugs and counter-insurgency program.”
“We enjoin the Filipino people to demand accountability with regard to our taxes amid the corruption, ballooning debt, and human rights atrocities being committed by this regime,” Palabay added.
The post Karapatan dares gov’t not to thwart probe of rights violations in PH appeared first on Bulatlat.
14 peasants killed, 12 arrested in a day in Negros Oriental
“This is unconscionable.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Fourteen peasants were killed in police and military operations in three areas in Negros Oriental in only a day on Saturday, March 30.
According to a report, the victims were killed in an anti-criminality campaign in Negros Oriental.
Initial reports identified the victims as: Ismael Avelino, 53, Edgardo Avelino, 59, Melchor Panares, 67, Mario Panares, 46, Rogelio Ricomuno, 52, Ricky Ricomuno, 28, Gonzalo Rosales, 47, and Genes Palmares, 54. All were residents of Canlaon and were farmers. In Sta. Catalina, those killed were habal-habal driver and peasant leader Franklen Lariosa and Anoj Enojo Rapada.
Edgardo Avelino was the chairman of Hugpong-Kusog Mag-uuma sa Canlaon (Hukom), affiliated with the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) – Negros Chapter. According to Karapatan-Negros Avelino and his brother, Ismael, a habal-habal driver, were shot dead inside their house in Panubigan village, Canlaon City during the wee hours of the night.
Karapatan-Negros said two other victims were Barangay captains Velentin Acabal of Kandabong and Sonny Palagtiw of Pansiao village, Manjuyod. Also killed were Steve Arapoc, Manulo Martin who were also reportedly killed.
Meanwhile, included in the arrested persons is also a leader of KMP-Negros, Nestor Kadusale. Karapatan-Negros said the police allegedly “planted” a .38 caliber handgun on Kadusale to justify his arrest. Azucena Garubat, a women peasant who was first reportedly missing was reportedly brought to Dumaguete City.
Human rights condemned the massacre and held an indignation rally in front of the Commission on Human Rights in the afternoon of the same day.
“This is unconscionable. We strongly demand an immediate and independent investigation on the incident,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay in a statement.
Neri Colmenares, Makabayan Senatorial bet and a Negrense, said, “This is beyond words and the height of impunity of state forces. Justice must be served.”
Palabay said that since March 29, the said areas were reportedly militarized by elements of the 94th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
“The Negros region has been a consistent target of escalating police and military operations, which have had severe and catastrophic consequences for the communities in the area,” Palabay said.
She added that several killings in a day “is the handiwork of vicious butchers and men-in-uniform intoxicated by power, thinking they can just do whatever they like without consequences.”
They also called for the scrapping of Synchronized Enhanced Managing of Police Operations (SEMPO) and other repressive measures such as the Memorandum Order No. 32, to which they attributed the series of killings and continuing militarization of communities resulting to massive evacuations in Negros.
According to peasant group Amihan or National Federation of Peasant Women, since January SEMPO operations resulted in killings, ransacking of houses, arrests “due to planted evidence,” forced evacuation and persecution of peasant leaders and activists.
“The repressive measures have resulted in the killings of farmers in the region, and militarization of communities which are already experiencing widespread poverty and lack of government support. A bloodbath is happening in Negros, victimizing farmers and mercilessly perpetrated by a government with no regard for human rights and due process,” Palabay said.
Colmenares warned the police that they will pursue justice, “so that the police involved will suffer the fate of Gen. Jovito Palparan who is now languishing in prison. We demand that the PNP and AFP release the names of all those involved so that we can file criminal cases against them,” Colmenares said.
The post 14 peasants killed, 12 arrested in a day in Negros Oriental appeared first on Bulatlat.
Alternative media groups file civil case against cyber-attacks, identifies attackers
On the 25th anniversary of the internet in the Philippines, alternative media groups filed a case against the cyber-attacks that they have experienced since December.
Bulatlat, Kodao, Pinoy Weekly, and the Altermidya People’s Alternative Media Network (Altermidya) identified two companies that they believe are the main source of the extreme cyber-attacks against their websites.
They filed a case at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court against the IP Converge Data Service, Inc. and Suniway Group of Companies.
The cases filed included names of officers from both identified companies:
|
IP Converge Data Services |
Suniway Group of Companies |
| · Ernesto R. Alberto
· Nerissa S. Ramos · Anabelle L. Chua · Juan Victor I. Hernandez · Patrick David R. De Leon · Sherwin Torres · Christian Villanueva |
· Rolando O. Fernando
· Julia Mae D. Celis · Mary Ann F. Recomono · Jiang Zongye · Jiang Xingzhong |
According to their websites, IP Converge Data Services is the Philippines’ first Cloud Services Provider and the Suniway Group is an internet provider.
In the complaint, the groups averred that “Qurium would thereafter determine that the attacks on the websites of all Plaintiffs, as well as those of alternative newspaper Pinoy Weekly and progressive organizations Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Karapatan, shared the same attack signatures and were launched from the Philippines using a virtual private network (“VPN”) to mask their locations.”
Qurium was also able to precisely trace the attacks to the locations of IP Converge Data Service, Inc. and Suniway Group of Companies
“The basis of the complaint we filed are the violations on some provisions of the Civil Code of the Philippines, Articles 19 to 21, called abuse of rights of principles. We also call to this case the violations on Article 32, where it is listed rights of the people that the state and private individuals cannot directly or indirectly lest they be held liable for damages,” said Atty. Josa Deinla of the National Union of Peoples Lawyers’, the group serving as counsel for the alternative media groups in this case.
“In these times of censorship, the basic duty of the journalists is to fight. Today is a concrete manifestation of our fight to ensure there is freedom of expression, in particular in our use of the internet,” said UP College of Mass Communication Danilo Arao.
DDoS or DDS?
The alternative groups’ complaint relayed how their websites have been attacked in various instances since December 2018 after posting articles critical of the government or those that expose the government’s hand in various human rights violations in the country, such as the articles on Sagay massacre and killing of peace consultant Randy Malayao.
The complaint stated that Bulatlat’s website began to shut down for varying periods of time since December 2018. The website first “became temporarily unavailable after posting separate reports on the filing of charges against the perpetrators of the infamous massacre of nine (9) peasants in Sagay, Negros Occidental and on the impact of the government’s “Build Build Build” program on urban poor families.”
On 25 January 2019, Bulatlat.com’s website was once again down. Upon referral of Access Now, the editorial staff reached out to Qurium Media Foundation (Qurium), a non-profit organization based in Sweden that provides “technical, infrastructural and human support to media organizations operating in repressive regimes,” including secure hosting for independent media. Qurium admitted Bulatlat.com into its rapid response program on a pro bono basis, and transferred the website to Virtualroad.org, a provider of secure hosting services for independent online news outlets and human rights organizations under threat.
Qurium confirmed the “crazy amount” of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on Bulatlat.com based on its research.
Altermidya received unusual traffic size flooding the site since December 25 last year and this again happened on the third week of January. By February 6, they received a notice of malware on their website and after two days, the website went down. Its hosting provideer Hostmonster closed down its website and email hosting because the website was experiencing DDoS attacks.
Kodao Productions’ website went down on December 26, and again in different periods in January and February. On January 31, its hosting provider Siteground informed Kodao that a“DOS attack on your account detected,” saying that it had “detected an abnormally high number of simultaneous connections” to Kodao.org.
The Pinoy Media Center (PMC) website PinoyWeekly.org suffered cyber-attacks since December 27 last year, after reposting the article Bulatlat posted before their website shut down again. The website was inaccessible for 12 days. After experiencing another website shut down on February, PMC asked help from Qurium, the latter confirmed “after reviewing the traffic logs of Pinoy Weekly we found that they were targeted by the same botnet that attacked Bulatlat, Altermidya and Karapatan.”
The alternative media groups sued for actual damages and attorney’s fees.
The post Alternative media groups file civil case against cyber-attacks, identifies attackers appeared first on Manila Today.
Roman Catholic Church leader reminds flock criteria in voting ahead of midterm polls
A Roman Catholic Church leader has reminded the Filipino electorate of the criteria in choosing their political leaders and how to make a wise decision ahead of the midterm elections on May 13.