POLITICAL vloggers and other online personalities who did not attend the previous hearings of the House joint committee chaired by Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez risk being cited in contempt and ordered detained at the Batasan Pambansa if they will not attend the panel’s hearing tomorrow.
Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (PL, Abang Lingkod) has already warned 24 resource persons who were earlier subpoenaed that he will not hesitate to move to cite them in contempt if they will not show up again.
Subpoenaed were Ernesto S. Abines Jr., Lorraine Marie Tablang Badoy-Partosa, Suzanne Batalla, Mary Catherine Binag, Jeffrey Almendras Celiz, Glenn Chong, Claire Eden Contreras, Lord Byron Cristobal, Jeffrey G. Cruz, Alex Destor, Ma. Florinda Espenilla-Duque, Claro Ganac, Edwin Jamora, Elmer Jugalbot, Julius Melanosi Maui, Joe Smith Medina, Alven L. Montero; Jonathan Morales; Cyrus Preglo; Vivian Zapata Rodriguez; Darwin Salceda; Allan Troy “Sass” Rogando Sasot; Maricar Serrano, and Kester Ramon John Balibalos Tan.
The tri committee, which is composed of the Committees on Public Order and Safety, Information and Communications Technology and Public Information, is reviewing the effectiveness of online platforms in curbing disinformation.
It is also seeking to 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.
Lawmakers also aim to determine the accountability of content creators and social media influencers who have been intentionally peddling fake news for a fee and look into the platforms’ liability for the spread of coordinated disinformation.
During the panel’s hearing last March 21, social media personalities who are known die-hard Duterte supporters (DDS) like newspaper editor Krizette Laureta Chu and bloggers MJ Quiambao Reyes and Mark Lopez apologized to the committee after a dressing down from lawmakers.
Chu and Quiambao even sobbed in front of lawmakers, while Lopez readily admitted that he was a fake news peddler.
Chu, Reyes, Lopez and former press secretary and vlogger lawyer Rose Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles are also expected to attend tomorrow’s hearing again as lawmakers still have questions to ask them.
DDS vloggers and social media personalities earlier filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to stop the House of Representatives from compelling them to attend congressional hearings on disinformation and the proliferation of fake news.
The joint panel has also invited Jose “Jay” Sonza, Elizabeth Joie Cruz (Joie De Vivre), Dr. Ethel Pineda Garcia, Alvin Curay, Ma. Khristine Claud Curay, Epifanio Labrador, Manuel Mata Jr. also known as Kokolokoy, Dr. Richard Tesoro Mata a.k.a. Dr. Richard and Erika Mata, George Ahmed Paglinawan a.ka. Luminous by Trixie & Ahmed, Aeron Peña a.k.a. Old School Pinoy, Ramon Gerardo B. San Luis and Elijah San Fernando a.k.a Eli.
Representatives from social media platforms such as Meta (Facebook), TikTok and Google are also expected to appear before the committee to answer questions about their content moderation systems and cooperation with government efforts against fake news.
Officials from the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Justice, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Anti-Money Laundering Council have also been invited to attend the inquiry.
