I started blogging at the age of 16. I was a college freshmen then, bordering to Sophomore, and was currently in the state of having suicidal tendencies. I blogged about teenage angst and emo-driven sentiments. Occasionally, I would update my Friendster shoutout with negative comments concerning people I didn't like. A lot of my friends would ask who am I referring to. I would just shrug my shoulders and feign a smile. Some others - those who feel like they are the ones being talked about in the said "comment" - would assault me back. They would throw hate tirades at me, but I just let them be. I allow them to say nasty things  about me because it's their right; because they have the freedom to do so. I just ignore them until they get exhausted and retreat back to their sack and doze off.

I grew up and eventually started posting things with responsibility. I always try to think first before I click. Although, I must admit, there are still times when I could not hold my emotions and would stain my FB and Twitter wall with nonsense shenanigans for liberating sake. I do so because I believe in the freedom of self-expression. After all, we are not robots.

Big reveal: I have a private personal blog. It's supposed to be filled with negative rants, gossips, and what not. Are the police hunting me now? Another Big Reveal: There's nothing in it, simply because I decided not post my emotional rants on the Web;  private blog or non-private blog.

Now here comes the issue on the Cybercrime Law, and how, we people who live in the age of Internet are now prohibited to express ourselves to our own liking. I have read the entire Cybercrime Law Act and all I can say is that, this is plain ridiculous. I have listed below my reasons why I can't get myself to befriend this law.

1. I hate the fact that we need to be more careful in formulating our opinions, even if it's just a simple commentary. In fact, my imagination tells me that this might be the birth of paranoid Filipino Internet users. A day will come when we would be hearing people saying "will I get jailed tweeting this?" or"I wanna blog about this and that but I fear that the police would arrest me", even if your only intention is to rant about how much you dislike a celebrity's ugly gown at the FAMAS Awards, or some altered, disrepectful Filipiana worn by a politician at the SONA. It's crazy.

2. Say something that is "allegedly" defamatory and you run the risk of getting jailed for at least 6 years and pay a sum amounting from 50,000 to 10 Million. Wow, that's even worse than being kidnapped for ransom.

3. I can't help but roll my eyes over the shallowness of this law. I've seen a lot of celebrities being bashed by their haters. Some followers even create poser accounts of celebrities they hate just so they can pull them down. That's how they're so damn bored with their lives. But hey, do celebrities care? They don't! Because they are grown ups and they know how to handle their cult of haters. The thing is, these posers and cyber squatters are messed up earthlings who are probably lactose intolerant. They failed to develop their EQ and IQ in their younger years, resulting to underdeveloped logic and poor brain aesthetics. We can't do anything about that. Except maybe pity them and pray for them. And perhaps buy them tons of milk, if budget permits.

The point is, if normal people can handle these things, can't politicians do it too? After all, they are in their position for a reason, and they're supposed to be "open-minded" because they know better. What? Are they afraid of being the subject of memes? Are you (insert name of senator here) offended because someone called you plagiarist? But isn't that true anyway? Right.

4. If cyber bullies are now considered criminals, then would the government also go out of their way to track the bullies in the real world, like in the school perhaps? I heard bullying is mainstream in Grade School and High School. Would the government and police officials roam around the schools to monitor bullies and arrest them as well? I don't think so.

5. This new law dictates that when you share, repost, and reblog something libelous on your social networking accounts, you could be imprisoned, even if you're not the one responsible for creating the post in the first place. Seriously? This is again an issue that addresses the death of freedom of self-expression and freedom of choice. It's sick. Why is this even an issue? Is it because politicians are afraid that their meme photos will go viral and be famous in the world? *bitch please*

To give some credits to this law, I believe this was created because some people are very careless with what they post on the Web. Can't argue with that. I've seen worse. Then again, I don't think having such law is needed to clean up these scatterbrained posts. It's not like this will totally end the rampant cyberbullying. It's just like poverty. The problem is neverending.

To end this post, I would like to send a message...

To irresponsible social media users, let's not give the world the impression that we, Filipinos, can't hold our sh*t together. We're rational, civilized people. If you wanna be the world's laughing stock, don't drag our country's name to your pit. Or better yet, live in another planet.

To the Philippine Government, please show your people how to properly accept criticism... without using authority and power.

P.S: Would I get imprisoned for writing this? I think I should just delete this. What do you think?