Why we need to amend the Internet Transaction Act of 2023 (Republic Act No. 11967)

It all started when my four-year-old Reddit Premium account, with over 70,000 karma, was erroneously banned by the platform. I appealed the ban, but my efforts fell on deaf ears at Reddit.

Because it was a Premium account, I am entitled under consumer law to redress in the form of a refund, since it is a paid subscription. This is where Reddit’s Terms of Service (TOS) conflict with Philippine consumer law.

Reddit’s TOS explicitly provides no refunds for banned accounts, while Philippine consumer rights guarantee refunds for paid services that are no longer being enjoyed. I filed a complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Consumer Services Division, but it was outright dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction, as Reddit has no office or legal representative in the Philippines.

In my research, I later discovered that a newly enacted law—the Internet Transactions Act of 2023—guarantees minimal contact with overseas companies doing business in the Philippines, such as Reddit and most social media platforms. These platforms offer subscriptions and accept advertising from Philippine companies.

I then filed another complaint with the DTI, this time through its newly created Internet Transactions Bureau. Two online hearings were scheduled via Microsoft Teams, but Reddit failed to appear on both occasions. I was later advised that the DTI would issue a Certificate to File Action against Reddit in a local court.

However, as with my earlier experience at the DTI Consumer Services Division, I believe this case would likely be dismissed by our courts for lack of jurisdiction. Reddit has no office or legal representative in the country.

This is where the gap in the Internet Transactions Act becomes apparent. Although the law requires minimal contact with foreign companies conducting business in the Philippines, if these companies refuse to respond to mediation hearings or even to complaints sent via email, there is effectively no way to compel them to face proceedings in local courts.

In further research, I also learned that Reddit has a separate grievance mechanism for Indian users. This resulted from the Indian government requiring social media companies operating in India—such as Meta, Instagram, and Reddit—to maintain a local office, legal representative, or grievance officer based in India. India’s IT law is similar to our Internet Transactions Act but goes further by mandating local representation for large social media platforms.

We often pride ourselves on being among the countries with the highest number of social media users in the world. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and even Reddit are widely used in the Philippines. In fact, Reddit usage in the Philippines ranks 10th globally.

I believe this number will only continue to grow as Reddit’s popularity increases. The r/Philippines subreddit alone now has 3.5 million users. There is a high likelihood that many Filipino users have also experienced erroneous bans but simply chose to create new accounts due to the lack of a proper grievance mechanism for Filipino Redditors.

I have also learned that many Facebook and Instagram users in the Philippines have fallen victim to waves of unjust bans worldwide. These issues could have been resolved more quickly if we had a grievance mechanism similar to India’s.

Because of this, I wrote several emails to our current senators, urging them to address the lack of a proper grievance mechanism for social media users in the Philippines. The Office of Senator Jinggoy Estrada responded and referred me to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). However, the DICT reiterated what I already knew—that it currently has no authority to address unfair bans or the lack of an effective redress process.

The Office of Senator Bam Aquino also replied to my proposal, stating that they would study it further. I sincerely hope they consider the amendment I am suggesting so that Filipino social media users may enjoy the same protections currently afforded to users in India.

Contrary to what some Reddit users claim, this proposed amendment would not undermine freedom of expression on social media. On the contrary, it would strengthen the enforcement of existing Philippine laws, such as the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

I firmly believe that social media companies operating in the Philippines should be held accountable for decisions and policies that contradict existing Philippine laws. Let us spread awareness and encourage our fellow social media users to speak up now.

Sign up the petition here.

Blogging In The Time of Deep Fakes

We're living in very dangerous times. There's so much disinformation, misinformation and deep fakes on the internet, specially on TikTok. 

Not to mention that AI can create very realistic videos these days that you'll really have to look closely at those AI watermarks i.e. Sora on each and every outrageous videos out there.

It's like all of these issues rose just this year. 

I remember my first encounter with ChatGPT 3 years ago. I am excited and shocked at the same time, when I realized that searching something on the net (aside from Googling it) was made even easier by ChatGPT. I'm actually grateful for AI because it's very useful in checking grammar and spelling, but I realized these days that it's even more than that these days.

Now there's a browser created by OpenAI -- the company that made ChatGPT. I'm testing it the past few days and aside from some minor bugs, it's a good browser. 

I remember starting surfing the internet on Netscape Navigator back in the year 2000, during college. Then it was overrun by Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Then came Firefox from Mozilla Foundation, which I love greatly. Then Google made their own browser named Chrome. Microsoft fought back by renaming IE to Edge. There's also Safari from Apple and the Opera browser as well. Now there's ChatGPT Atlas, which I think will take a lot of share in browser users in the coming days.

Now there's the problem of Deep Fakes. Those videos with human "narrators" that are made entirely by AI -- which really resembles the real person. You'll find a lot of these deep fakes on TikTok -- celebrities and famous people endorsing different products.

You'll even find these "speakers" endorsing the products in Tagalog / Filipino. Good thing I'm a native Tagalog speaker so I really can distinguish AI from mispronounced Tagalog words. But these AI-generated videos are good and I'm guessing, a lot of people are being deceive by these videos.

I am really hoping that the Philippine Government would do something about this, just like what Finland is doing.

An Open Letter to Roland Simbulan, CenPEG.ORG

Dear Sir Simbulan,

I saw/heard your interview at DZMM Radyo Patrol 630, DZMM Teleradyo (22 June 2025) and I am greatly troubled by your statements that you repeatedly said -- that the modern-day land of Israel is an occupied state ng mga Palestinians.

This is alarming because he's a resource person and a former professor at UP, and yet he's a victim of fake news.

First, there was never a Palestinian nation / state. The modern State of Israel was from the Ottoman Empire. It was conquered by the British after WW1 and then divided by the UN into the State of Israel and Palestinian Authority. Israel accepted the partition plan but the PA rejected it. Israel is never a colonizer.

"The word Palestine derives from Philistia, the name given by Greek writers to the land of the Philistines, who in the 12th century bce occupied a small pocket of land on the southern coast, between what are now Tel Aviv–Yafo and Gaza. The name was revived by the Romans in the 2nd century ce in “Syria Palaestina,” designating the southern portion of the province of Syria." --Source: https://www.britannica.com/place/Palestine

It's a Roman Empire invention to severe the ties of the Jews from the ancient land of Israel.

I hope that the former professor would study his history more before providing such information on public.

Note:

He did reply. Then blocked me.

Chowking Nagpayong Store To Be Constructed Soon

 While we are waiting for the opening of Jollibee Nagpayong, its sister company Chowking already setup tarpaulins announcing that it will construct a store besides Jollibee.

That's Jollibee and Chowking along Sandoval Avenue. Double the store, double the traffic. Hopefully the trees along this street will be retained.

Nagpayong is truly transforming to a place for dining. Hopefully it will be a separate barangay from Pinagbuhatan.

Jollibee Nagpayong Opening Soon

 I can't believe that there is a Jollibee branch here at Nagpayong, besides Palmdale Gate, along Sandoval Avenue. We're just waiting for the announcement of its opening day.

One of the most populated areas of Pasig City (or even Metro Manila) now has a Jollibee branch. Truly, this would cause more traffic in the area. But at least, we can dine it at this popular fast food.

Its closest competitor, McDonalds, is located near Villa Alegre in Pinagbuhatan. So no competition so far.

My Trip to Bicol 2025

I started my trip from Canyon Woods in Laurel, Batangas, which is about 10 kilometers from the border of Tagaytay and Nasugbu.

I rode a jeepney to Lemery around 10:00 AM. After about an hour, I arrived at the town center. I took some pictures of the usual subjects of my trip: the main church (usually located in the Población), the munisipyo (town hall), Rizal's monument, the palengke (marketplace), the town plaza, or some ancestral houses.

My next stop was Batangas City. I did the same thing there. Then, I rode a jeep to the Grand Terminal, which is located about 45 minutes from the town center. To my surprise, there weren’t many buses going to Bicol, or at least to Quezon. I asked some bystanders, and they pointed me in the right direction.

Fortunately, there was a non-air-conditioned bus going to Lucena, which is the "bottleneck" city for buses going to Bicol. Almost all buses pass through this part of Quezon Province. I left Batangas City at 2 PM, and the travel took almost 4 hours. The bus that was supposed to go from Batangas City to Lucena passed through other towns like Candelaria, Sariaya, and others.

Finally, by 6 PM, I was in Lucena City. I roamed around the Población area and took pictures of my usual subjects. I also had dinner at KFC. By 7 PM, I was at the Grand Terminal (which is not as grand as its name suggests). There were two bus companies traveling to Bicol. By 10 PM, I was en route to Bicol via Raymond Transport.

The bus had trouble around midnight somewhere in Quezon Province. A mechanic was in the aisle of the bus and went down a stairway leading to the engine. The bus reached Sorsogon City by 10 AM. Yup, it was a 12-hour trip.

The bus' signage indicated it was going to Gubat (Sorsogon), but I was too tired to travel further, so I got off at Sorsogon City. I rode a tricycle (P22) to the city center, took pictures of the church and other landmarks, and had lunch at Jollibee. It was raining that morning.

By 12 PM, I was on a mini-bus to Matnog, Sorsogon, the southernmost part of Luzon. The trip took 1.5 hours. There wasn’t much to see in Matnog, except for the arch that marks the departure from Luzon Island. I took pictures of the church, peed at a nearby construction site within the church compound, had some bread at a local bakery, and then returned to Sorsogon City.

By 3 PM, I was on my way to Daraga, Albay. The trip was also 1.5 hours long. It was cloudy when I arrived. I had to climb a hill where the church was located. It felt like I was in Baguio City. Then I saw it—Mayon Volcano.

Its peak was covered by clouds, but it still looked majestic. I took pictures and videos, visited the municipal hall and palengke, then rode a jeep to Legazpi City.

The RedDoorz I booked was located far from the city center. I had to ride another jeep via Rawis, get off at Pag-Asa Street, and walk about 300 meters to Narra Street, where it was located. There were actually two RedDoorz locations there, one of which was RedDoorz Mariners.

I had dinner at a nearby carinderia. The tapa was delicious and only P75. By 7 PM, I was already in bed.

I woke up around 4 AM. By 4:30 AM, I was already walking toward the giant statue of Our Lady of Salvacion. Fortunately, the road was lit, but I swear, I thought I saw "white ladies" twice, just out of the corner of my eye. It still gives me the creeps as I remember it today while writing this story.

The distance was about 2 kilometers from RedDoorz. The sunrise was scheduled for about 5:50 AM. Thankfully, it wasn’t as cloudy as the day before. I was able to take some good shots of the famous natural wonder and even created a video. I also realized that there’s a smaller Mayon on the opposite side of the larger one.

Around 6:30 AM, I rode a tricycle to the Cagsawa Ruins. The fare was P150, and it was quite a long ride. There was a marker beside the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road, and I walked about 200 meters over a bridge. On my left was the Cagsawa Ruins complex/park.

There was a P45 entrance fee to the park, plus a P20 fee to enter another park closer to Mayon, with a koi fish pond. There were lots of flowers that I used as foreground in my pictures of Mayon.

I saw the signage for Sumlang Lake and decided to visit. There are some popular photos of Mayon Volcano with its reflection on Sumlang Lake. I took another tricycle for P150, but there were jeepneys plying the Legazpi-Guinobatan Road.

There was a P100 entrance fee to the park. The place was nice, with a restaurant that opens at 10 AM. It was very Instagrammable. I also saw an actual Pili tree and the abaca plant, which is very similar to a banana plant.

From Sumlang Lake, I rode a jeepney back to Legazpi City and walked around the city center. The Albay Provincial Capitol was very near the Legazpi City Hall. I didn’t find a statue of Rizal, though.

I went back to RedDoorz, took a shower, grabbed my Dell bag, rode a tricycle, and then a jeep en route to Tabaco City. I thought there would be lots of tabak (big knives) in Tabaco City, but I didn’t see any.

I had lunch at the palengke. I had ginataang langka and toge, which cost around P60. I didn’t see any local kakanin. By 1 PM, I was in Tiwi, Albay.

I took some videos of the church complex, then took a picture of a nice Rizal statue in the middle of the plaza in front of the municipal hall. Then, I walked toward the beach (Lagonoy Gulf and Tiwi Beach). It was beautiful.

I returned to the plaza on an eTrike, then went back to Legazpi. With no other plans, I rode a bus back to Manila. By 2 PM, the bus left Legazpi City. It took 14 hours to reach Manila, specifically the Cubao area. I had breakfast at McDonald's. I got a stomach ache upon arriving in Manila, but thankfully, there was a nice restroom at McDo.

Before lunch last Tuesday, I was already snoring in my sleep.