MANILA, Philippines — Rights lawyer Chel Diokno on Thursday said the National Bureau of Investigation is going after social media users who "air their sentiments" on government's response on the COVID-19 crisis.

In a statement Thursday, Diokno said he took on a case of a social media user who was summoned by the bureau for investigation on a violation of Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code, which explains “unlawful use of means of publication and unlawful utterances.”

Diokno said the NBI “is now going after even ordinary citizens for simply airing their sentiments on the government’s response to COVID-19 on social media.”

NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin confirmed to Philstar.com the subpoena sent by Diokno and said the bureau has sent out “more than a dozen” of them.

An ABS-CBN tweet report, however, said that the NBI Cybercrime DIvision clarified that the summons were related to the Bureau's investigation on the spread of fake news on COVID-19 online.

The subpoena sent to Diokno’s client in particular noted that the investigation will be into the individual’s “publicly posted article concerning an alleged misuse of government funds.”

Di lang si Mayor Vico. Pati ordinaryong mamamayang nagpo-post ng hinaing online, pinapatawag ng NBI. Tinanggap ko ang kasong ito dahil di na makatao ang nangyayari. Ang dami nang namamatay, pati frontliners, pero imbis na COVID, kritiko ang gusto nilang puksain. #ProtectThePeople pic.twitter.com/IoGjLQk1wr — Chel Diokno (@ChelDiokno) April 2, 2020

The veteran rights lawyer said he took on the case because “the situation is turning ‘inhumane.’”

“Ang dami nang namamatay, pati frontliners, pero imbis na COVID, kritiko ang gusto nilang puksain,” Diokno added.

(Many are dying, even frontliners, but instead of COVID, they want critics eliminated.)

Article 154 of RPC

Early in February, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra directed the NBI to conduct a case build up against people “on the alleged deliberate spread of misinformation and fake news about... and false reporting of the [COVID-19].”

The Justice chief then said that the directive aims to avoid “causing undue panic and alarm.” The DOJ has yet to reply on questions whether the NBI issued subpoenas were made under this directive.

The summons sent by the NBI did not cite the recently signed Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, which contains a provision on penalizing those who spread “false information” on social media regarding the COVID-19 crisis.

Instead, it cited Article 154 of the RPC which penalizes the following:

Any person who by means of printing, lithography, or any other means of publication shall publish or cause to be published as news any false news which may endanger the public order, or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State;

Any person who by the same means, or by words, utterances or speeches shall encourage disobedience to the law or to the constituted authorities or praise, justify, or extol any act punished by law;

Any person who shall maliciously publish or cause to be published any official resolution or document without proper authority, or before they have been published officially; or

Any person who shall print, publish, or distribute or cause to be printed, published, or distributed books, pamphlets, periodicals, or leaflets which do not bear the real printer's name, or which are classified as anonymous.

It is unclear if the said provision of the RPC covers published posts on social media.

NBI probe into LGU officials

This came after the NBI’s Anti-Graft Division also asked Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto to come to the bureau’s office and explain his alleged violation of Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, specifically on the city’s supposed continuous tricycle operation.

Sotto on March 19 said that the city government will comply with all national government directives, which include the suspension of mass transportation.

RA 11469 was signed into law on March 24, and the said law is not retroactive.

Asked if an act committed before the law punishing it was signed—that is, if penal laws be applied retroactively—Guevarra explained that "penal provisions of any law are not applied retroactively unless the offense is a continuing one and its commission has not been stopped."

The cited provision penalizes persons who... “publish or cause to be published as news any false news which may endanger the public order, or cause damage to the interest or credit of the State.”