SUPORTADO ng Young Guns ng Kamara de Representantes ang paghingi ng tulong ni Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers sa National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) upang magtukoy at makasuhan ang mga vloggers na nagpapakalat ngb kasinungalingan laban sa mga miyembro ng House Quad Comm.

Iginiit nina 1-RIDER Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez at House Assistant Majority Leader at Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong ang kahalagahan na mapanatili ang integridad ng Kamara at upang matugunan ang organisadong pagkakalat ng mga maling impormasyon.

“It seems to be a concerted effort talaga. While freedom of speech is protected under our Constitution, it has to be tempered with responsible practice and use,” ani Gutierrez.

“Kasi when we’re talking about itong vloggers and social media, you have questions of jurisdiction, you have questions of cyberspace, the issue of anonymity. ‘Yun po ‘yung nakakatakot po dito,” sabi pa nito.

Ipinunto ni Gutierrez ang panganib ng mga kampanyang ito laban sa mga opisyal ng gobyerno.

“We have congressmen and congresswomen who, whether or not it is related to their function, have been receiving threats. They have been receiving anonymous messages, either death threats or threats to their families. It should be something that no one should be subjected to,” sabi ni Gutierrez.

“Free speech is one thing, but to rely on character assassination is a totally different issue,” dagdag pa nito.

Sinabi naman ni Adiong na kinikilala nito ang pagkakaiba ng mga opinyon na bahagi umano ng demokrasya.

“But unfortunately in this kind of online landscape, we’ve seen troll farms, we’ve seen bloggers, hindi ko naman nila-lahat, who are up for grabs. Sometimes they are being used by political propaganda to malign, discredit a certain perceived enemy,” dagdag pa ni Adiong.

“How can you have a populace with informed decisions kung ang binibigay mo sa kanila ay puro mali, fake and misinformation?” wika pa ni Adiong. “The only way for us to have a healthy space for conversation is to basically agree on facts. Unfortunately, naging subjective ang facts ngayon dahil dun yung karamihan po sa mga trolls, mga troll farms, dinidistort nila ‘yung facts.”

Kapwa nagpahayag ng suporta ang dalawang mambabatas sa pangangailangan na protektahan ang public space.

“If it is proven talaga that these sophisticated schemes are being employed to really target congressmen and congresswomen, not for their personality but for that political purpose, then it must be something that should be acted on po talaga,” ani Gutierrez.

Sabi naman ni Adiong, “We can disagree, but at least disagree on facts. Para sa akin, ako personally, I would support the move of Congressman Chairman Barbers para maprotektahan natin ‘yung magandang spasyo sa pakikipagtalakayan sa publiko.”