Vloggers warned: Attack Tri Comm, face contempt

Pro-Duterte vloggers accused of “fake news” peddling have been warned to refrain from “attacking” the House Tri Committee or any of its members. Otherwise, they will be cited for contempt and ordered detained.

Abang Lingkod Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano reminded the resource persons on Monday that this is in accordance with the House Rules, which the chamber had already enforced.

“Just to remind you—Section 11 of our internal rules, Paragraph F—we will not allow discussions or attacking, insulting this committee hearing after the suspension of this hearing because you will be in violation… We will be forced to cite you for contempt (undue interference),” said Paduano, chairperson of the House Committee on Public Accounts.

He added, “We have already done that in my committee when a block timer from Cagayan, Bombo Radyo Cagayan, was cited for contempt because after the hearing, he attacked the results of the committee hearing. Please be reminded.”

The House Tri Committee concluded its last hearing on Friday, with the next tentatively set for 8 April. The investigation involves the prevalence of disinformation and fabricated and manipulated content online and the role of vloggers and social media personalities in it.

During the last hearing, Paduano moved to subpoena 24 pro-Duterte vloggers after they failed to attend the investigation despite previous show-cause orders.

This includes former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, and vloggers Jeffrey “Ka Eric” Celiz, and Allan Troy “Sass” Rogando Sasot, among others.

Sasot, who was reportedly in China, attempted to join last week’s hearing via Zoom. But the committee declined to provide her access to the link, saying it is exclusive only for House members joining the hearing.

Last week’s inquiry was met with both praise and criticism, with some critical of the government deeming it an affront to free speech. Pro-Duterte vloggers Krizette Chu and Mary Jean Quiambao Reyes, who were intensely grilled along with other vloggers, turned emotional during the hearing.

Lawmakers, however, have made it clear that the intent was not to suppress freedom of speech but to establish policies that will combat the rampant dissemination of false information and content.

The committee launched the probe on 4 February to address the alarming threat of disinformation and manipulative content online by looking into the loopholes in existing policies and crafting new measures that will address it.

Lawmakers themselves have decried that they became targets of “fake news propagators” and troll farms, which they believed stemmed from the House Quad Committee’s investigation into the Duterte administration’s drug war as well as the criminal activities linked to Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).

Previously, panel chair Dan Fernandez said that these trolls may have been financed by a POGO boss to attack, discredit, and undermine the ongoing probe into the illegal POGO industry.