Despite TRO on Cybercrime Law, battle far from over — NUJP

Following the Supreme Court’s unanimous vote to temporarily stop the implementation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on Tuesday warned that the battle is far from over. “It is the right thing and the very least that the High Court can do confronted with a blatantly unconstitutional and repressive law,” the NUJP, one of the 15 petitioners against the controversial law, said in an emailed statement. “But the battle to defend our basic rights is far from over,” the group continued. “The 120-day TRO gives a brief respite but the protests must continue.” Concurring with the lawmakers who also challenged Republic Act No. 10175, the NUJP called on the public to “remain vigilant” until the Supreme Court makes its final decision. The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a 120-day TRO on the implementation of RA 10175 and set the oral argument for the case on January 15 next year. The first major test for the Sereno Court Another petitioner, Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance, said in a separate statement that the High Court’s latest move “signals that the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno will remain independent and attuned to the sentiments of the Filipino people.” Earlier, lawyers said the Anti-Cybercrime Law is the first major test for the High Court under Sereno's leadership. PIFA called on the Supreme Court to permanently declare the law unconstitutional. “We ask the Supreme Court to uphold our basic human rights, including Internet freedom, by ruling with finality that RA 10175 is unconstitutional.” Implications of the TRO Theodore Te of the University of the Philippines College of Law explained that the 120-day TRO signals that the High Tribunal “may want Congress to amend the law so that it need not rule on the matter.” Te also explained that the Supreme Court may have also been restraining itself from meddling in the controversial issue. “If this is indeed the situation, then the SC has just fundamentally altered its judicial perspective to include a strategic and calculated use of judicial avoidance and restraint, a welcome move towards stabilizing jurisprudence.” Of the High Court’s unanimous vote, Te said that it is" a recognition that the SC acknowledges the importance of the issues[.]" — BM, GMA News