Poe, Roque fight over bill barring officials from disseminating fake news

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Senator Grace Poe on Thursday, March 15, clashed at a Senate hearing over the latter’s proposal to prohibit government officials from spreading fake news. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Senator Grace Poe on Thursday, March 15, clashed at a Senate hearing over the latter’s proposal to prohibit government officials from spreading fake news.

Attending the continuation of the hearing of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, Roque reiterated his stand that the senator’s proposed law is unconstitutional.

“To begin with, there should be no law abridging freedom of expression. Any law which will criminalize fake news will obviously be a violation [because] it is a law that will abridge freedom of expression,” Roque said.

“What is the importance of regulating fake news? It’s because we want to uphold the truth. If the objective is to uphold the truth, it does not matter if it’s a legitimate journalist or a blogger that spreads false news. And that’s why my position is [that] there is no basis for singling out that only government employees should have liability when they spread false news,” he added.

Poe, last month filed Senate Bill No. 1680 which seeks to amend the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials in a bid to “uphold the accuracy, reliability, and truthfulness expected from government officials and employees.”

The senator said the bill highlights the need for government employees to maintain discipline in spreading information and in giving their opinion on issues.

During the hearing, Poe defended that the officials must be held to a higher standard unlike any other ordinary citizen. The executives, she said, are also required to submit their statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).

“I think that you agree that government employees, such as us, are held to a higher standard. There are certain things we are liable for. We need to present SALN [while] an ordinary citizen [does] not,” Poe said.

“We can be charged graft with plunder, they cannot unless they connive with us. There are certain things expected of us because we have waived that certain right because we are serving the people,” she added.

Standing firm by his view, Roque questioned, “If we’re going to penalize fake news, who will judge what is fake news and what is news?” adding that the current frame right now is that the public should be allowed to decide what is true from what is false.

“Madam chair, I’ve been a victim of fake news. It comes with a territory. And we can only hope that because people were given by God the ability to discern what is true and what is false, its ultimately the public and the free marketplace of idea that should adjudge what the truth is and that should put ultimately the penalty on purveyors of fake news,” the Palace official stressed.

Poe explained that she is not submitting a new law since there is already an existing law, the Revised Penal Code 154, which criminalizes fake news.

If Roque would want to have a further dialogue regarding her bill, Poe advised him to attend a separate committee to be handled by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV as chairperson of the civil service, government reorganization, and professional regulation.

The President’s spokesman earlier vowed to step down from his post if the Congress approved the bill against fake news or misinformation.