Why only the critics?

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LEADERS of the House of Representatives can always say that their legislative inquiries are done in aid of legislation, but in the contemporary history of the House and the Senate, a person can count in one’s fingers the laws emanating from hundreds of these hearings.

It may be that the Congress of the Philippines is really a slow-grinding mill, or its members are out to get even with critics who have piqued their egos, or the high personal regard their Speaker bestows on himself.  Watching the representatives browbeat invited resource persons, many people are amazed by the intensity and passion they put in this much-abused aspect of legislation.   

With the way these congressmen are behaving, throwing their weight around and close to bullying invited resource persons — even sending them to the House detention room whenever they are dissatisfied with their answers — it is easy to understand why the number of critical bloggers and political analysts in media, both social media and traditional media, is increasing.

‘We are confident that the Supreme Court will give this case its well-deserved priority.’

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Last Tuesday, three House committees led by Sta. Rosa City’s Rep. Dan Fernandez invited 40 social media bloggers and influencers as resource persons for their joint inquiry on the spread of fake news and disinformation.

Only about five of the invited guests made it to the hearing, with the rest going to the Supreme Court to file a petition contesting the House invitation, knowing that it will later become a show-cause order (which it did later in the day), then an arrest warrant, no less.  The bloggers went to the High Tribunal asking the court to uphold for them the constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech, of expression, of the press, and of peaceful assembly.

The tripartite committee holding the inquiry is made up of the House committees on public order and safety, on public information, as well as on information and communications technology.  According to Fernandez, who chairs the public order and safety panel, the inquiry would look into how disinformation spreads online, its impact on public perception and national security, and the measures needed to combat it.

The question may be asked Congressmen Fernandez, Robert Ace Barbers, Benny Abante and others in the committees: Why are you inviting only the known critics of the Marcos administration? A cursory perusal of the list of invitees would reveal this fact.  Jay Sonza, Rogando Sasot, Tio Moreno, Claire Eden Contreras, Trixie Cruz Angeles, Maui Spencer, Banat By, and Enzo Recto are all hard-hitting critics of Bongbong Marcos and Martin Romualdez.  Even non-bloggers like Malou Tiquia and Cathy Binag are included in the list.

Former journalist Toto Causing, the most virulent of active bloggers on social media, was not invited by the tri-committee. Why? Is it because Atty. Causing can outsmart the best lawyers in the House on issues of press freedom and freedom of expression? A representative cross-section of the social media influencers should be allowed to contribute to the narrative.

Again and again, the Supreme Court has become the court of last resort on the tricky issues concerning press freedom.  It has in the past taken the side of the people against their rulers on this issue.  We are confident that the Supreme Court will give this case its well-deserved priority.

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