For today's deadly pandemic (Corona Virus Disease 2019), as new numbers of death and of cases have

been increasing worldwide, impractical and conjectural news from different platforms of social media
have also been becoming a serious issue due to its deceptive content that can put anyone into an
obvious danger which sanctions for this should be reiterated and slapped to those who bypassed it.

In the situation that the world faces now with the disease, people seems to lose presence of mind and
the only thing left there was the idea of panic. It already reached to the point where they just resort in
one reading material or even in a rumor about the case without scrutinizing its consistency of
informations. Also, they already forgot to check first the source or the writer before believing in an
article publicized in social media. Most of them share it in public right away without thinking the grounds
they might face if ever those informations are considered to be false.

Republic Act 11469, also known as Bayanihan as One Act which was signed by the President on March
25, covers all of the things needed to prevent the further spread of the infectious disease. While under
Section VI of the said law, those who are perpetuating or spreading false informations would be
punished—an imprisonment of two months or a fine of 10,000 pesos to 1 million pesos or both. But
then, people still show how courageous they are to be against with the law that was only imposed for
their own goodness.

In connection to that, an incident in the Philippines about 32 people who have charged by the police
men due to disseminating false information regarding COVID-19 health crisis was reported on april 07,
2020. The 8 of those spread false rumors orally in their local neighbors while the remaining 24 circulated
falsehood about the disease in social media platforms. The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime
Group (PNP-ACG) charged the suspects with an unlawful utterance and use of the mean of publication
under Article 154 of the Revised Penal Code and with violation of Republic Act 10175 or the Anti-
Cybercrime Prevention Act (https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/philippines-arrests-32-on-
fake/).

On the other hand, Commissions on Human Rights (CHR) may perceive those punishments or sanctions
as unconstitutional since it already curtails freedom of speech or known to be Article III Section 4 of the
Philippines's Constitution of 1987, Bill of Rights which states, "No law shall be passed abridging the
freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and
petition the government for redress of grievances.
Hence, Law was not passed for abridging one's liberty but it was passed to guide people on how they
could use the rights that they possess effectively and intelligently. Without the government and its rules,
there will be no nation or a country to be called as Philippines. And as the world face this pandemic all
through this time, everyone should be accountable for every actions they do—so remember that, rights
are more powerful when these were used responsibly in a right place, in a right time, and in a right
reason to be reasonable.

Title: Doubtful Rights, Rightful Doubts