Lawyers go after ‘lewd trolls’
The secrecy-shrouded burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani sparked heated debates throughout the country whether on the streets or online, with both supporters and protesters airing their sides on the issue.
But on social networking site Facebook, sexual harassment, including rape threats and lewd comments, particularly aimed at female protesters quickly spread following the controversial burial last week.
Photos and screengrabs of sexual abuse threats are now making the rounds on social media, including a picture of a young female protester.
Facebook user Eric Voltaire de Leon called her “future pornstar.”
“Come to papa, I’ll fill your mouth, and your pockets, too,” De Leon wrote.
In the same photo, one Calvin Castro Menrige replied to De Leon and said they said should “gang bang” the protester with her mouth tied so she would not bite and fight back. Another user by the name of Chriscor Jones said: “Magkano (how much) per hour?”
Another viral subject of online sexual abuse is a photo of young female protester holding a placard which read: “Kay crush ‘di ako maka-move on, paano pa kaya kay Marcos?”
One Enzoi Quirsten said the protester should just do porn instead of joining rallies so she would earn money, while Litao Angelo said “it would be much better” if the girl would “just show her tits.”
Lawyer John Molo, a law professor and graduate of the University of the Philippines and Harvard University, took to Facebook to share that he is offering free legal assistance to victims of sexual harassment online.
Molo said he received “massive response and offers to help” from fellow lawyers, students, co-teachers, and those in information technology.
“From what we have seen, online sexual harassers, bullies and, perverts better be afraid. This is not just 1 lawyer or 1 victim filing just 1 case. As of today our volunteer complement has: 1. Four (4) full-service Law Firms; 2. Fourteen (14) individual lawyers; 3. Two (2) IT organizations and several IT practitioners ; 4. Three (3) law student organizations; and 5. Almost a hundred law students. More volunteers are coming in,” he said.
“With volunteers from as far as Agusan, Bacolod and Laoag, we have the means, machinery and motivation to hunt down lewd trolls – Wherever they are. So if you are thinking of sexually harassing a student, better think twice. Because we will be coming for you and we Will Find You,” Molo added.
Data security expert Cheska Montes, co-author of the Data Privacy and Cybercrime Prevention book, urged netizens to take screenshots of sexual abuse online as she can help in filing complaints before the National Bureau of Investigation.
“If you know any of the children or women who were subject of misogyny, sexual vexation or abusive comments in the internet, take screenshots of the comments, profile page, mark the timestamp, if the profile is attached to a mobile number, get it. Then send to me, I can help in filing a complaint with the NBI Computer Emergency Response Team. Let’s track these uncivilized people down, locate where they are with NBI and have them apprehended asap,” Montes said.
Citing sexual abuse against students protesting the Marcos burial, Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday filed three bills to fight violence and sexual harassment against women—Anti Rape Act, Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, and Gender-Based Electronic Violence.
Marcos was buried at the heroes’ cemetery last Friday, in a clandestine ceremony which saw full military honors including a 21-gun salute. IDL
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