Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday asked Communications Secretary Martin Andanar to draft a bill that seeks to penalize and ban “trolls.”
Drilon made the request during the Senate budget hearing on the proposed P1.9 billion budget of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO), which Andanar heads.
A troll is Internet slang for someone who posts inflammatory statements on social media deesigned to provoke readers into displaying emotional responses or manipulate others’ perception.
“You keep on denying you have no budget for trolls. You will never admit you have a budget for trolls. Assuming you are telling us the truth that there is no budget for trolls, but having said that, do you think we should enact a law which will ban troll farms and penalize those who engage in troll activities? Would you endorse that?” Drilon asked Andanar.
Andanar responded in affirmative, saying the bill should also cover those who spread “fake news.”
“Yes, Mr. chairman, I think it’s a good idea to enact something like that or even perhaps go beyond it by penalizing people who spread fake news,” he said.
At this point, Drilon told Andanar to create a draft bill for this purpose.
“Since you are in this, experts in the field of communication and this inevitably, the issue of trolls would come around, and you agree that they should be banned, can you submit to us a draft bill, which would ban and punish the trolls,” Drilon said.
“We will draft it,” Andanar responded.
At the early part of the hearing, Senators questioned the number of PCOO employees who are classified as hired under a contract of service (COS).
Drilon asked if these COS employees, numbering 1,479, are trolls, PCOO Undersecretary Kris Abalan said they are not.
But senators are not satisfied with Ablan’s answer and demanded the PCOO to provide the names, addresses, educational attainment, and job description of the 1,4789 personnel hired under COS.
The Commission on Audit previously flagged PCOO over its “massive” hiring of 375 COS personnel last year, for which the agency spent more than P70 million. —KBK, GMA News
Drilon asks PCOO to draft bill punishing, banning ‘trolls’
Source: Pinoy Hub News
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