A GROUP of vloggers and social media personalities yesterday asked the Supreme Court to stop the House of Representatives from compelling them to attend congressional hearings on disinformation and the proliferation of fake news.
In a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and writ of preliminary injunction, the petitioners said the House inquiry violates their constitutional rights to free speech, expression, and press freedom.
The petitioners are Ernesto Abines Jr., lawyer Glenn Chong, Mark Anthony Lopez, Mary Jean Reyes, Dr. Richard Mata, Mary Catherine Diaz Binag, Ethel Pineda Garcia, Krizette Laureta Chu, Jonathan Morales, Lorraine Marie Badoy-Partosa, lawyer and former Presidential Communications Operations Officer Rose Beatriz Cruz-Angeles, Aeron Pena, Nelson Guzmanos, Elizabeth Joie Cruz, Suzanne Batalla, Kester John Tan and lawyer George Ahmed Pagkalinawan.
Named respondents in the petition were Speaker Martin Romualdez, Reps. Robert Ace Barbers, Dan Fernandez, Tobias Tiangco, and Jose Aquino II.
The petition was filed after the House committee headed by Fernandez issued multiple show cause orders to several vloggers, including Angeles, Cruz, Lopez, and Tesoro Mata, among others, to appear and testify in the probe on disinformation online.
In their plea, the petitioners argued that the hearings, spurred by privilege speeches by Barbers on December 4 and 18 last year, are politically motivated and designed to silence dissenting voices.
Barbers, in those privileged speeches, took to task the vloggers and trolls for allegedly spreading disinformation and fake news on social media.
The petitioners appealed to the SC to stop the House from forcing them to attend the hearings, saying the probe “is unconstitutional as it imposes prior restraint on free speech and creates a chilling effect on content creators.”
“The formal orders and proceedings that were pursued and are being pursued by the respondents in line with the said threats created a chilling effect on the exercise of the constitutional rights of the petitioners,” they said.
“In this case, it is evident that the threats, inquiry and other acts of the respondents are calculated to drown the voice if not to totally silence vloggers, including petitioners herein who have the courage to stand up, criticize, and offer alternative views to the one preferred by the respondents,” they added.
They insisted that regulating social media content through legislation violates the constitutional prohibition against laws abridging freedom of speech and expression.
The House tri committee yesterday issued show cause orders against several vloggers and social media personalities, including former Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) chief Trixie Cruz-Angeles, after 39 of them snubbed the joint panel’s hearing on the spread of fake news and disinformation.
Apart from Cruz-Angeles, the panel chaired by Sta. Rosa Rep. Dan Fernandez issued show cause orders against Elizabeth Joie Cruz also known as Joie De Vivre online; Krizette Lauretta Chu; Mark Anthony Lopez; Jun Abines Jr.; Dr. Richard Tesoro Mata; Aaron Peña, Suzanne Batalla aka IamShanwein; and Ethel Pineda.
The panel may eventually subpoena the resource persons or order their arrest after citing them in contempt if they would skip the next hearings or if they fail to satisfactorily explain their absence.
The three House committees – composed of the committees on public order, public information, and information and communications technology (ICT) – intend to unmask peddlers of alleged “fake news” and disinformation and their supposed benefactors.
The tri-committee is reviewing the effectiveness of these platforms in curbing disinformation and identify gaps that need to be addressed through legislation to ensure that perpetrators will be held accountable.
The House is also expected to push for stronger policies that will ensure social media platforms implement stricter safeguards and penalties against violators.
Some of the content creators invoked their freedom of speech and questioned the legitimacy and motives of lawmakers in calling for the inquiry.
The other absentees submitted excuse letters, like those who claim to be out of the country, which Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod) said is not a free pass.
Out of the 42 resource persons invited, only three attended the hearing: Malou Tiquia; Mark Louie Gamboa and; Atty. Enzo Recto aka Atty. Rico Tomotorgo, who was confronted and berated by Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (PL, Sagip) over alleged unsubstantiated allegations the vlogger and law professor made in one of his vlogs.
It was Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante who first moved for the issuance of the show-cause order against Cruz, followed by Paduano who moved that the same be issued against Abines, citing the invalidity of his excuse letter.
The tri comm also showed cause order against Lopez after he questioned the legal basis of the House inquiry in a lengthy letter while Chu, in a four-page letter, tried to justify his refusal to attend.
Cruz-Angeles rejected the invitation outright, claiming that the inquiry was unconstitutional which angered lawmakers, particularly Paduano who questioned if the vlogger is really a lawyer.
“Is she a lawyer?” he said, before moving for the issuance of a show cause order against her which was immediately seconded and approved.
Paduano then moved to refer Angeles’ case to the House’s legal department for the possible filing of a disbarment complaint against her, saying that as an
“Officer of the court,” Cruz-Angeles “should respect the Constitutional duty of Congress.” The motion was seconded and approved without objection.
Peña, who also refused to attend, denied any ties to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) and drug lords, prompting the panel to issue the same show-cause order.
Before moving for the issuance of a show-cause order against Cruz, Abante cited a social media post wherein she accused the lawmaker – one of the chairmen of the quad committee which is investigating the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs and the criminal POGO operations – of harboring drug personalities.
“She’s listening to us right now, she’s watching now. Face us here if you’re brave. The problem with you is you curse us and we can’t do anything about it. Face us here, here,” said the lawmaker.
The angry pastor-lawmaker then appeared to curse at the vlogger: “Namo (Your mother),” he said, prompting Fernandez to ask joint committee members to “observe decency.”
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, quad comm chair, dared House critics to face lawmakers in the committee, saying they only appear to be brave when they’re on social media.
“Huwag po kayong magtago sa mga ganyan, ang tatapang ninyo (Don’t hide behind such things, you make it appear you’re brave),” he said. “In the advent of social media, suddenly Filipinos become political analysts, they become journalists, they become experts. They believe their wisdom. Kayo ang galing ninyong magtuligsa. Dito ninyo dalhin (You’re good at criticizing. Bring it here).”
Barbers also rejected claims that the inquiry was unconstitutional, saying that freedom of speech should not be used as a shield to spread disinformation and avoid accountability.
“Huwag nyo pong lokohin ang taong bayan. Wala pong curtailment o suppression ng freedom of speech dito. Kaya nga kayo inimbita dito e. Kaya kayo inimbita dito para makapagpahayag din kayo (Don’t fool the people. There’s no curtailment or suppression of freedom of speech here. That’s why you were invited here. That’s why you were invited, so you can express your thoughts here),” he said.
Fernandez chimed in: “Dito ninyo dalhin, para ng sa ganun makagawa tayo ng isang polisiya, na hindi maabuso ito (Bring it here so we could make policies so that it won’t be abused).”
Fernandez also particularly assailed the vloggers who are parroting Chinese propaganda about the West Philippine Sea (WPS), an issue which former President Duterte was heavily criticized for having a defeatist stand.
He said the country’s legal claims are being affected by the lies being spread by fake news peddlers.
“Ika nga ni retired (Supreme Court Associate) Justice Antonio Carpio, ang pag-aangkin ng China sa West Philippine Sea ay maituturing na ‘fake news of the century.’ Ang mga Pinoy na trolls naman na nagpapalaganap ng maling impormasyon tungkol dito, pwede ba nating ituring bilang mga traydor ng bayan? (As Justice Antonio Carpio said, China’s claim over the West Philippine Sea is the ‘fake news of the century.’ Filipino paid trolls are spreading wrong information about this, can we consider them traitors to the country)?” he said. – With Wendell Vigilia
Niceforo Balbedina II of PressOnePH told lawmakers that a coordinated network of Chinese-linked social media accounts has been actively pushing contents that are against President Marcos Jr. while echoing pro-Vice President Sara Duterte’s narratives.
Balbedina presented the result of an investigation into Foreign Influence Operations (FIO) and Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) in the Philippines.
He said that Chinese state media has been actively spreading questionable narratives about the WPS issue while promoting social media content related to the Vice President.
Balbedina identified China Daily, China’s largest English-language newspaper, and its TikTok affiliate “Media Unlocked” as among the sources of AI-generated disinformation content.
“Dito po sa channel na ito, nag-upload po sila ng mga videos na gumagamit ng AI at na-questionable po ang content (In this channel, they upload videos using AU and questionable contents),” he said.
Balbedina also revealed that after PressOnePH published investigative stories exposing the channel, it was flooded with negative comments from Filipinos, leading to its eventual takedown.
However, he said, the channel eventually resurfaced with millions of followers despite having no content. He said many followers were from Spanish-speaking countries and showed no interest in the WPS, raising suspicions they were bot-generated or bought from online growth services.
The network of accounts, mostly operating on X (formerly Twitter), was found to be systematically posting content attacking the President while boosting engagement around the Vice President.
“Chinese in nature ‘yung accounts, pero ‘yung sini-share po nila ang picture, may Tagalog ng mga kataga (but the pictures they share have Tagalog phrases,” Balbedina said.