AND I thought that when the SIM card is registered, the trolls would have to say goodbye because they could no longer hide behind aliases.
Sayop man diay ko.
Gabaha ra man gihapon ang mga trolls sa social media.
* * *
Trolls can attack anybody with impunity because they hide their identity by using aliases.
Bisan kinsa mahimo nilang atakehon without fear of being sued for online libel. Because of this, they are not afraid to spread fake or non-existent news items, especially those against their enemies or the enemies of their sponsors.
Mahimo na sila mag-gama-gama og storya because of the feeling of invincibility, wa gyoy gikahadlokan mao nang sayon ra nga mag-pataka og yawit.
So with the law requiring the registration of SIM cards, one would think or even expect the trolls to disappear because their identity is no longer assured.
But no Sir/Mam.
Lima singko lang gihapon ang mga trolls karon and they are daring as usual.
* * *
What could be the reason for the nerves?
Well, for one thing, it’s not easy to connect the real person to the troll. How to prove the real identity of the troll remains the challenge. Getting “immediate” assistance from the NBI or the NTC takes a long, long time. At times, it’s like mission impossible.
For another thing, it is expensive to file a case, unless one is a lawyer.
When filing a case, one needs to retain the services of a lawyer, and he normally pays acceptance fee and appearance fee. Upon engagement, he pays acceptance fee and he pays appearance fee per appearance, with hearing or no hearing at all.
This entails a huge sum, definitely not included in the family budget.
These are just some of the reasons the victims of trolls would just ignore or suffer in silence.
* * *
Meanwhile, when the OGAR was asked early this year why it took sometime for them to file a case, not against the former governor, but only against Larry Pamugas who was just following Art Yap’s orders, the answer was they need to build their case very well because they don’t want to suffer the ignominy of filing a criminal case only to be dismissed for lack of merit or on technical grounds.
The reasoning at that time was, they were already processing the necessary case build-up but the evidence was not enough so they needed more time.
Back then, OGAR even assured the public that their fact-finding efforts on alleged corruption in the provincial government could yield more results that could implicate top officials including former Governor Art Yap.
The filing of the Pamugas case was the first case filed by OGAR in six (6) months, yes you got that right, 6 months, after it was created. As reported, OGAR was created to look into anomalous transactions under the previous and current administrations, and the Pamugas’ case was just “the beginning of what will be a series of exposes.”
* * *
Actually, the filing of the Pamugas complaint took many people by surprise.
Nganong siya man, nganong dili man si Art Yap ang gikasohan?
And the reply of OGAR was, “just wait, hulat lang mo, moabot ra lagi ta ana, we are working and not sleeping on our responsibilities.”
Tuod man, gahulat pod ang madlang pipol. Because aside from the “hulat sa mo” yarn, there was a promise of another case to be filed soon against another employee/official of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, believed at that time to be Provincial Agriculturist Liza Quirog.
True enough, the OGAR filed another case but just the same, the filing took many people by surprise.
Six months after filing the Pamugas case, the OGAR filed another case but this time, against officials of the Gov Celestino Memorial Hospital.
Charged by OGAR before the Ombudsman were Dr. Mutya Kismet T. Macuno, GCGMMC Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chair Pinky Lumbre, Procurement Officer Frederick Namoc, and Materials Management Section head Luz Rosales.
Misamot katingala/kasagmuyo ang mga tawo.
Why?
One, because many people were thinking that the focus of the OGAR probe was Art Yap and his cohorts in the capitol.
Two, because everybody thought that the OGAR would expand its probe to “other areas” of provincial governance only when the principal actors of corruption have already been charged and/or indicted in court.
Three, because the reasoning then was that the filing of charges against employees of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist would eventually help/facilitate the filing of graft charges against Art Yap. But the filing of the Pamugas case yielded no such result.
Four, if they really need to file that case against Macuno and company next to the filing of the Pamugas case, many people at least expected that somehow Art Yap would be included in the charge sheet. Pero, wala man maapil.
Misamot kalibog ang kutaw.
Kanus-a pa man diay makasohan si Art Yap?
Hangtod kanus-a man ang paghulat sa mga tawo usa pa makasohan si Art Yap? Maabtan pa og siyam-siyam?
Five, if the chronology of filing is to be considered, 6 months diay ang ilang gikinahanglan kada kaso? All the while, many were led to believe that the OGAR has bundles of documents in their armory as repeatedly mentioned/published in the social media back then.
Asa na man tong gipang-yagyag sa Facebook sa una nga mga dokumento sa pangurakot kunohay ni Art Yap and company? Nahilom na man god ang tig-yagyag adto.
Six, the filing of supposedly “airtight” cases is no guarantee that the Ombudsman would really be convinced and would act to indict the respondent. Anha lang na maseguro o matawag nga segurado gyod nga makasohan kon mogawas na ang Resolution sa Ombudsman. Buot ipasabot, wa pay kaseguroan nga makasohan gyod sa Ombudsman ang mga keha nga gi-file sa OGAR hangtod dili pa mogawas ang resolution.
Anyway, kanus-a na man pod mogawas ang sunod nga kaso nga i-file sa OGAR? Maapil na ba si Art Yap and his cohorts anang panahona?
Nangutana lang!
