Insurgency: Village Gets Electricity

In 2020 the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed. This law sought to give authorities more power to prevent terrorism. Opponents of the law said it would only lead to abuse and deprive people of their rights and freedoms.  In February of 2022 the House and Senate passed a law that would require all SIM cards to be registered as well as all require social media accounts to be registered with a real name and phone number. Supporters of the law said it would prevent terrorism while opponents said it would curtail personal freedoms. In a surprise move Duterte vetoed the law.

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/04/15/2174584/duterte-rejects-bill-requiring-sim-card-social-media-account-registration

President Rodrigo Duterte has vetoed the bill requiring SIM cards and social media accounts to be registered over concerns that this will “give rise to a situation of dangerous state intrusion and surveillance.”

Acting presidential spokesperson Martin Andanar said Friday in a statement that Duterte rejected the measure over the inclusion of social media in the measure, “without providing proper guidelines and definitions thereto.”

The provision requiring social media networks to compel their users to provide their real name and phone numbers when creating accounts was inserted by lawmakers during the bicameral conference meetings on the bill and was not included in earlier versions of it.

The measure also penalizes people who use fictitious identities to register for social media accounts with a fine of up to P200,000, jail time of at least six years or both.

Lawmakers passed the measure in an attempt to address terrorism, text scams, bank fraud and defamation online, but internet freedom advocates said this bill will violate Filipinos’ right to privacy.

“It is incumbent upon the Office of the President to ensure that any statute is consistent with the demands of the Constitution, such as those which guarantee individual privacy and free speech,” Andanar said.

Despite Duterte's rejection of the bill, Andanar encouraged Congress to continue legislating measures aimed at creating a safer and more secure online environment as long as these stand judicial scrutiny.

Internet freedom and ICT rights advocacy group Democracy.Net.PH sent a petition signed by more than 61,000 individuals and groups to Duterte urging him to veto the bill.

"The bill is overly vague. It fails to provide a legal definition of 'social media' … The bill treats as crimes certain actions, such as 'trolling', 'hate speech', and 'spread of digital disinformation or fake news,' despite there being no basis to penalize these under existing Philippine penal laws," said Democracy.Net.PH director for rights Carlos Nazareno in a letter to Duterte.

Naturally, supporters of this law have already come out of the woodwork to fear monger that Duterte's veto means bombings will continue.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1583355/sotto-bombings-blackmail-scams-to-continue-with-veto-of-sim-card-bill

Bombings and scams will continue to proliferate following President Rodrigo Duterte’s veto of the proposed SIM Card Registration law, Senate President Vicente Sotto III warned Friday.

“Ayos! Tuloy ang mga bombings and blackmail and scams using prepaid sims,” Sotto said in a tweet.

This, in reaction to Duterte’s decision to veto the said measure.

Bombings and scams will continue to proliferate because there is an insurgency going on and people are stupid. How many more times will I have to read about some idiot who gave his personal info to someone who texted him? 

The PNP claimed that any concerns about personal freedom and privacy were outweighed by the need to fight terrorism.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170996

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said the SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) Card Registration Act will not infringe on the privacy of subscribers and will only serve as an extra layer of protection against illegal activities perpetrated through the use of mobile phones.

“If you remember before, hindi pa uso ang mga (there is no) cellphones, we use landline right and there is always a public directory that is accessible to all so what's the difference? It's the same except that we do this over our mobile phones. So wala naman siguro tayo naging problema (I guess we don't have a problem) before when it comes to privacy," Lt. Michelle Sabino, spokesperson of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) said in a presser in Camp Crame Wednesday.

She added that the benefits of the law, especially in terms of unmasking perpetrators of illegal activities such as fraud, text scams, terrorism, obscene messages, and disinformation, would outweigh the concerns of those who oppose its implementation.

To compare a cell phone to a landline is ridiculous especially these days when a cellphone is a minicomputer on which many spend their lives. Her reasoning that stopping crimes outweighs privacy goes to show how the PNP thinks. They do not care about the rights of the people which is why the PNP continually violates them. From cops who commit extortion to red-tagging activists to filing faulty warrants against said activists and then gunning them down inside their homes the PNP does not care about the rights of the people.

Contrary to the claims of Sotto and the PNP this law could have actually led to an increase in crime.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/02/09/22/sim-card-registration-could-lead-to-rise-in-crimes-warns-group

At first glance, mandatory SIM card registration looks good as it could be used to crack down on internet trolls and scammers. 

An internet rights advocacy group, however, believes there are hidden dangers behind the measure that could lead to an increase in crimes such as extortion and even kidnappings. 

Democracy.net.ph team member Carlos Nazareno said SIM card registration in countries such as Canada has been a failure after consultants said they could not find any proof that it increased security.

He noted that in Mexico, the SIM Card Registration Act was enacted in 2009 and then repealed in 2012 after crime increased because of the law. Instead of deterring crime, he said the law became an incentive for criminals to steal cellular phones for the SIM cards. 

"Actually crime increased, that’s what happened in Mexico. So kidnappings, extortion calls, and assaults on civilians aimed at stealing cellular equipment increased in Mexico," he said in an ANC Rundown interview. 

He noted that extortions and even kidnappings increased after SIM card registration data was leaked on the internet. 

"In Mexico the registry got leaked to the internet and sold on the black market. I think it was sold for around 500 Mexican pesos which is about P1250. So ganoon kamura umikot siya sa internet," he said. 

Nazareno expressed concerns about the Philippines’ capacity to keep a secure database of information obtained from Filipinos who register their SIM cards. 

“In 2016 we had a Come-leak,” he said, referring to how the website of the Philippine Commission on Elections (Comelec) website was hacked a little more than a month shortly before the presidential elections that year.

“So the danger here is that when you put information in a central repository, and you can’t secure it, there’s the danger of stuff leaking. And I don’t think--it is very difficult for many companies to guarantee 100 percent security. Kasi, magagaling ang hackers eh.”

“If a company like Facebook with billions of dollars at its disposal wasn’t able to secure the data of people around the world…papano pa 'yung smaller companies? And let’s say entities sa Philippine government, ‘di ba?” he said.

“Imagine, if you need to register with your real name online, and your children create social media accounts, there’s a risk that their real names will be exposed to strangers on the internet. It opens them to harassment, doxing, scams, possibly kidnapping and even online sexual predators.”

“So let’s say you’re a parent, are you really going to let your kid go around giving their real name on the internet to strangers?” he said.

He also stressed that there are other steps that can be taken—aside from passing the SIM Card Registration Act—to crack down on cybercrime.

“What has to be done is due process. The (Philippine National Police), (National Bureau of Investigation), they need to get warrants from courts, serve the subpoenas to internet providers, social media providers, get the IP addresses, geolocations.”

It seems no one in this nation respects due process. Everyone accused is guilty and has to prove their innocence. Rather than having everyone register their SIM card and social media account the government needs to keep whittling away at the insurgency. 

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172226

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino has ordered units to intensify their focused military operations against the New People's Army's (NPA) extortion activities.

In a statement Wednesday, Centino said this would prevent the NPA from recovering from its defeats and prevent it from recruiting new members and committing atrocities.

"Let us continue to address the resource generation of the CTG (communist terrorist group) by stopping its extortion activities and seizing their firearms, ammunition, and other war materials," he said, adding that this would expedite the end of the local communist armed conflict in the country.

On April 11, the AFP seized during operations 22 high-powered firearms from NPA fighters in Agusan del Sur.

The 60th Infantry Battalion (60IB) of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Agila discovered 10 AK-47 automatic rifles, seven M-16 rifles, a light machine gun, an M-14 automatic rifle, M-79 grenade launcher, Garand rifle, and another M-16 rifle in Bagul River, Kasapa II, La Paz, Agusan del Sur.

The location of the arms cache was disclosed by an alias "Bolo", a former NPA rebel who recently surrendered to the Army.

The NPA's Guerilla Front 3 (GF3) secretary Maximo Catarata alias "Datu Makatindog" surrendered to the 60IB on March 31.

The AFP says in Southern Mindnao there are only 2 weakened fronts left.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172211

Southern Mindanao only has two remaining "weakened" communist guerrilla units, enabling the Army's 10th Infantry Division (10ID) to focus on Barangay Development Program (BDP) initiatives.

In a press conference here Wednesday, Capt. Mark Tito, 10ID spokesperson, said the collapse of New People's Army (NPA) structures in its areas of responsibility has given the military the time to focus on "more productive aspects."

These include, he said, enhancing territorial defense" to protect the country's sovereignty.

"It is important that we continue to sustain these accomplishments of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The BDP shall be implemented properly, so we can make sure that issues will not resurface and may cause revival of insurgency," Tito said.

According to Tito, the Barangay Development Program plays a vital role in the ending of local communist conflict "because of its sole purpose: good governance."

BDP is a hallmark program of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the whole-of-nation approach to attain inclusive and sustainable peace. 

It's debatable that the Barangay Development Program creates "good governance" but this week it pulled a village into the modern world.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171962

A remote tribal village in Nasipit, Agusan del Norte finally got its own electricity over the weekend after the Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC) partnered with other government agencies to secure solar lights.

Residents of Sitio Baboy-Baboy, Barangay Camagong, Nasipit, also received a four-day training on basic solar power installation to be able to maintain the lights themselves, PTF-ELCAC officials said.

In a statement Monday, TESDA-ADN Director Rey Cueva said the residents installed the solar lights Sunday following the April 4-7 training, benefiting at least 36 Higaonon families in the village.

Cueva said the lack of access to electricity remains one of the basic challenges in far-flung areas such as Sitio Baboy-Baboy, which the military described as under the influence of the communist New People's Army (NPA).

It's hard to imagine that in the year 2022 there are communities in this nation without electricity. Providing the people with services so basic such as clean water, roads, and electricity should not be a job for the NTF-ELCAC. Development should be ongoing. If the government did its job without any corruption things could get done. As it is foreign NGO's are providing better services to the people than the government.