NBI meets lawyers of vloggers amid fake news issue

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and five lawyers of vloggers and content providers who were issued subpoenas held a meeting amid the proliferation of fake news.

In John Consulta’s Wednesday report on “24 Oras,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago clarified the subpoena issued to the 40 vloggers and content providers was for a dialogue and not to file charges against them.

“Sinasabi ko nga, I’m a former judge. I respect freedom of speech and  expression. Maaaring yung iba sa kanila nalilihis lang ng landas. Hindi alam na lumalagpas ng parameter ng batas,” Santiago said.

(I’m a former judge. I respect freedom of speech and of expression. Some might have lost their way and were not aware they went beyond the parameters of the law.)

He maintained the NBI respects freedom of speech and expression, but one must not violate the provisions of the law.

“Halimbawa, bakit ngayon lang nagbenta ng P20 na bigas porket malapit na ang eleksyon, that’s okay, kinekwestyon mo, opinyon mo yan. but ilalabas mo, ang binebentang bigas, eto inuuod, ahhh that is fake news already. Dahil hindi naman magbebenta ang gobyerno ng ganun,” Santiago said.

(For example, the question 'why is the P20-per-kilo rice being sold when the elections is coming up?', that’s okay; it’s your opinion. But if you release that the rice has worms, it’s fake news because the government does not do that.)

Meanwhile, the lawyers said it is important to balance protecting human rights and monitoring the spread of fake news.

“This is part of the discussions. This is covered by free speech. Ang sabi niya wala namang problema sa commentary, huwag lang fake (He said there’s no problem with commentary as long as it is not fake news),” lawyer Trixie Cruz said.

“We also reminded him that there is a Supreme Court decision where a commentary is based on something that later on proves to be erroneous. It’s still protected speech,” she added.

The NBI also said the pieces of evidence they have will undergo investigation to determine which will be used to file a complaint against vloggers and content providers at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Yung iba, ayaw nilang makipagcooperate, ipafile na lang namin. Ayaw nilang makipagcooperate, sa DOJ na sila magpaliwanag, due process pa rin,” Santiago said.

(Some of them refuse to cooperate, so they will have to explain to the DOJ, which will still undergo due process.) —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News