The help that the cyber crime law can give is so little against the danger it can cause, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares, who is in Bacolod City, said yesterday.

Colmenares said the insertion of the provisions of libel into the new law is among the things that poses danger to all internet and social media users.

Under the present law, a person found printing or uttering libelous words against another person may be meted 4 to 6 years imprisonment while under the Cybercrime bill, those who post libelous comments through blogs and social media may be imprisoned for at least 12 years, he said.

Colmenares added that under the present law, a person can file libel charges against another person in the area where he or she had read the printed material or heard derogatory statements against him or her. It was not however, clarified if that will also be applicable to cyber crimes.

Another disadvantage of the cyber crime bill is that the National Bureau of Investigation, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group or other intelligence units can get access to a person’s social network accounts and email contents, he said.

Colmenares admitted that they were not able to scrutinize the cyber crime bill well before it was passed Congress because of the bulk of resolutions they needed to attend to.

Aside from libelous statements posted in Internet blogs and social networks, the cybercrime law also aims to put a stop to cybersex, child pornography, cybersquatting, identity theft and unsolicited commercial communications.

As to the freedom of information bill, Colmenares said they are going to discuss its passage before Congress in a committee hearing on October 21.

He said he is optimistic that the bill will be passed before the year ends.*APN

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