Immediate House probe sought on blocking of red-tagged websites

Activist groups marched from University of the Philippines Diliman to the Commision on Human Rights on June 4, 2020 to protest the passage of the "Anti-Terrorism Act."

Philstar.com / EC Toledo IV

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers from the progressive Makabayan bloc are calling on the House of Representatives to immediately launch an investigation into the National Telecommunications Commission’s order to block more than 20 websites identified by former National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon to be linked to the armed communist rebellion.

Led by Rep. France Castro (ACT Teachers party-list), the three-member group filed Monday House Resolution No. 49 calling on the human rights and public information panels to immediately conduct a probe on the blocking of the red-tagged websites, which include independent news outlets Bulatlat and Pinoy Weekly.

Castro, along with Reps. Arlene Brosas (Gabriela party-list) and Raoul Danniel Manuel (Kabataan party-list), stressed that neither Esperon nor the NTC provided any evidence to back up the claim that these websites are affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army or the National Democratic Front.

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/07/19/2196496/immediate-house-probe-sought-blocking-red-tagged-websites