Mindanao Daily NEWS
Volume II, No. 200
web portal: www.businessweekmindanao.com
Monday
February 24, 2014
P15.00
northmin . westmin . caraga . davao Your Regional Mindanao-wide Community Newspaper
Fortun to NIA: Be ready with lies in House probe Military to file protest vs 2 MILF commanders
By PAT SAMONTE Regional Editor-Caraga
B
U T U A N City––Agusan del Norte first district Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fo r tu n b e c a m e more ballistic as the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) in Caraga region blamed calamities, existing armed conflict and road right-of-way problems for the unfinished irrigation projects in his district since 2012. See PROBE, page 4
COTABATO City––The military is set to file protest today before the Government of the Philippines- Moro Islamic Liberation Front Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) against two MILF commanders for alleged extortion and harassment of farmers. 602nd Infantry Brigade spokesperson See MILITARY, page 11
WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES. More than 300 men and women soldiers of the Philippine Army 4th Infantry Division join a two-day foot march and bivouac in barangay Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City. The soldiers are assigned in office duties and the activity was geared towards reminding them of their battle readiness as foot soldiers. Photo by Gerry Lee Gorit of Mindanao Daily News
Petitioners vs cybercrime law to ask SC to reconsider online libel ruling DAVAO City––Groups opposing Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 today said they will ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling that online libel as provided for in said law is constitutional. Nica Dumlao, Foundation for Media Alternatives (FMA) program coordinator, said in a phone interview they will file a motion for reconsideration, as the law threatens to “harass human rights defenders or anyone critical of the government.” “If this is upheld, what
will happen to freedom of expression?” Dumlao said the internet is a different playing field where the subjects of statements deemed libelous may answer at once unlike in channels mentioned in the Revised Penal Code, the law that defines traditional libel. She added the petitioners will meet on Saturday, Feb. 22, in UP-Diliman for their next move on the case. FMA is part of the Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance, a nationwide coalition of internet freedom advocates and one of the
petitioners in the SC case. The High Tribunal on Tuesday handed down the decision declaring as constitutional the provisions on online libel in RA 10175. But Bayan Muna Rep. Karlos Isagani Zarate called the law a “curtailment of freedom of expression” and vowed that the battle to decriminalize libel will continue in Congress. “We should not criminalize the act of expressing one’s opinion,” Zarate said in a phone interview. “If we feel slandered, one should See ruling, page 11
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