Anime Festival Asia 2012: It's A Go!

And it is confirmed!

I will be going to Anime Festival Asia 2012 (AFA 2012) to be held at Singapore Expo. This was merely a coincidence because we booked our flight to Singapore for November 9 to 12 last August and after a week of our booking I saw AFA's advertisement. I was like, YAAAAYYY!!

If going to Singapore is my first time to head outside the country, AFA is my first ever international convention. Not only that, it is a well-known gathering of otakus all over Asia and has amazing booths and programs planned for the attendees. This year, AFA was held also in other countries like Malaysia and Indonesia.

AFA is not only an anime convention but also a movie house and a concert hall. I Love Anisong which is dubbed Electric Groove is the musical event for AFA and it will hold three concerts for its three-day event starting 7:00 PM. On November 9, there is the Electro Stage for a solo concert of T.M. Revolution. The next day there will be the Jump Stage for FLOW, LiSa, BABYMETAL, fripSide and m.o.v.e.. On its last day, the Diamond Stage will feature May'n, Minami Kuribayashi, Sea*A and Sphere. Aside from the concerts, movies such as Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Naruto: Road to Ninja will be shown during the day. Separate tickets apply for all of the abovementioned.

Having all of these ahead of me, who am I to be not that excited? See you AFA and see you Singapore!

RA 10175: A Stand

I was eating breakfast when I heard on the radio about a certain cybercrime bill that the government is about to approve. I said to myself, "Wow, it's a lot better than RH bill", since right now cyberbullies and other forms of computer misuse exists. Then a few days after, I've encountered some posts in my Facebook news feed about liking or retweeting a post can have you charged for libel. I disregarded these until last Monday, when I heard that RA 10175, Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, is about to be implemented on Wednesday, October 3. So it was that bill I heard last week with the news on banning liking and retweeting.

Last Tuesday, while I was browsing my Facebook groups, a friend of mine posted something about an online rally against the Cybercrime act. That pushed me to read its full text since a lot were already sharing "No to Cybercrime Law" and other anti posts. I don't want to make a stand without analyzing what this act is really about. As I was reading, I really knew something was wrong with this.


Photo courtesy of Philippine Internet Freedom Alliance
RA 10175 contains the usual cybercrimes we are to encounter at present. Punishable offenses include illegal access, gadget misuse, hacking and identity theft. There were also content-related offenses like cybersex, child pornography and libel. If you are found guilty, you can be punished with prision mayor or fined at least Php 200,000.00.

Now what is it that the people are ranting about? It is the libel clause. There is no doubt that this act is to protect the public as well as the corporate industries from cyber attacks. But to suppress one's freedom of expression, it is a different story. One cannot simply comment regarding a national issue since he's afraid to be charged guilty of libel. For example, a congressman will run on the upcoming elections, as well as his son. Many whereabouts will arise from the public and these whereabouts will be released in their blogs; an online journal. Now, if this act is to be implemented, whoever writes against an issue is charged of libel.

But what they are tampering is public opinion. We are all entitled to speak our minds. Who knows if our understanding of the matter can be beneficial to the ones involved? Sometimes listening to others can make us grow and create better decisions. If speaking one's mind is a crime, how come we call this government democratic?

Another is the clause on cybersex. Have the authors considered that if a couple decided to do "it" with full consent due to their longing for each other, will that still be considered a crime? To what elaborate means does this clause pertain to? Maybe they should go after those who engage in cybersex with compensation; that is already considered prostitution.

There is nothing wrong with what the act is trying to do. Banish cybercrimes. We all want that. But to our legislators, please consider revising this law. What you stated here is only a side of the coin. Before you pass this, please think of what the consequences may be. Please look on all areas of concern before creating a law that might affect millions of people.

I hope the legislators who created this bill will hear our pleas. But as for now, I make my stand to not pass this until amendments are made. Remember that what you are trying to get into is social media. With just a blink, everything may change.

Think before you act. Think before you click. Think before you sign.