Philippines Senator Vicente Sotto III has been embroiled in a series of plagiarism scandals — most recently, he gave a speech including phrases from a Robert Kennedy, Jr address, without credit or acknowledgment — and has attracted a lot of vocal online criticisms. He was also instrumental in the passage of a broad, censorious "cybercrime" bill, and he warned his critics (whom he derides as "professional fault-finders") that "Once the cybercrime bill is enacted into law, they will be accountable for what they say or write."

Now it seems he has made good on this threat. The signed version of the Philippines Cybercrime Bill classes "libel" with spam, child pornography, and other crimes, thanks to an amendment he introduced — though this amendment was never debated.

Who inserted that libel clause in the Cybercrime Law at the last minute?





Republic Act No. 10175: AN ACT DEFINING CYBERCRIME, PROVIDING FOR THE PREVENTION, INVESTIGATION, SUPPRESSION AND THE IMPOSITION OF PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

(Thanks, Charles!)