Lawmaker blames Aquino for ‘contentious provisions’ on anti-cybercrime law

Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker on Wednesday said that it is unfair to lay all of the blame on the contentious provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act on a single legislator.

Zambales Representative Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay took to her Twitter account (@mitosmagsaysay) when Republic Act No. 10175 took effect, lambasting that President Benigno Aquino III himself could have vetoed the controversial provisions on online libel and the take down clause “if they were not to his liking.”

In a text message to reporters, the deputy minority leader said that “all past Presidents exercised this, if they disagreed on the law Congress is trying to pass.”

“If there were issues not to his liking, he would have made it known to Congress prior to his signing so that it could have been deliberated further in the bicam,” she said.

She added in her Twitter account how Malacañang must have “signed it with eyes wide open,” recalling that the questionable provisions were not part of the version approved by the House of Representatives.

“When we passed the House version wala pa yun… attendees to the bicameral committee never informed us na nagka-changes sa version namin,” Magsaysay said.

This was also what Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara recalled during a recent interview with the media, saying that as one of the authors, he did not remember such provisions during their deliberations.