ASEAN Regional Coalition to #StopDigitalDictatorship Country THE PHILIPPINES Event Contextualisation SIM Card Registration Act (2022) This law requires all SIM card users to register their personal details, including name, address and identity card number, with telecoms operators The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 It grants the government broader powers to prevent and combat terrorism, including the authority to conduct warrantless arrests and detain suspects for an extended period without judicial warrant, allowing the designation of individuals or groups as terrorists without due process and grants authorities the power to conduct surveillance. Elections (2022) Ferdinand Marcos Jr., commonly known as Bongbong Marcos, emerged victorious in the presidential election in the Philippines. The son of the late former President Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the country as a dictator for over two decades, Marcos Jr.’s win has sparked discussions and reactions given the historical context associated with his family’s regime. Fig. 6.4B: Contextualisation for the Philippines’ timeline, 2020-2023 Philippines’ Cyber Libel Law: Invoked to Silence Journalists, Bloggers, and Netizens THE OBSESSION TO SILENCE MARIA RESSA One landmark case of cyber libel in the country is that of Rappler Executive Director Maria Ressa and researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. The Manila Regional Trial Court found Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos guilty of violating the Cybercrime Act in June 2020 over a Rappler article which the latter wrote on the links of the chief justice Renato Corona to several business people, including Wilfredo Keng who filed the case.34 It also contained a line suggesting that Wilfredo Keng had ties to drugs and Maria Ressa human trafficking operations. The article was published in May 2012, a few months before the Cybercrime Act took effect in September. It was republished in February 2014 with corrected typographical errors. This latter revised version of the article was regarded as a republication of the story and became the basis of a separate offence charged against them by the Regional Trial Court. The Philippines 223