Legislator rants against “too much democracy” and “online bashing”
Representative Arnolfo Teves (Negros Oriental) used his privilege speech on Monday, January 23, to decry what he perceived as the bad effects of “too much democracy.”
Teves began his privilege speech by saying he wanted to talk about democracy and improving the lives of the Filipino people.
He went on to complain that the Philippines has “too much democracy” and it does not seem right.
“I’m more on, I’m more bent on sa nasosobrahan na tayo sa demokrasiya (we have too much democracy). Parang hindi na tama na sobra na yung demokrasiya,” he said.
Teves cited “bashing in social media” as an example of having “too much democracy.”
“Yung bashing sa social media, sobra na eh, parang hindi na tama,” he observed, while adding that there ought to be a law to address it.
In fact, Teves has proposed legislation that seeks to require a mandatory authentication process for all social media accounts using any valid government-issued identification.
House Bill 129 aims to “discourage cyber bullying, harassment, online scam, libel and even illicit drug trade and prostitution by holding individuals, private and public entities accountable for their online interactions.”
Under the proposed law, any social media platform that fails to authenticate user accounts or provide user information in case of a lawsuit against a social media account on the platform may be held accountable.
Teves says that while he himself is a victim of online bashing, he invites everyone, bashers included, to follow his online accounts.
“It’s not because I am being bashed; not so often, but I am also a victim of bashing but in fact, iba naman ang reaction ko sa bashers ko eh. I invite them to follow my page para ma-notify sila at mas madal sila maka-bash.”
This is not the first “controversial” bill that Teves has authored. He has also proposed to name the Ninoy Aquino International Airport after ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos and to declare “ghosting” as an emotional offense.
Netizens took Teves to task for his latest legislative stunt. One might say he got bashed for it.
