Well, I do not think this new law is meant to be taken too seriously. Maybe that's why it has taken 25 years to get off the launch pad.
The sites that would appear to be targeted are run or will be run from offshore and the operators will thumb their noses at the RP government. I doubt any of them care a whit about a threat of being "deported" "blacklisted" sentenced to death or whatever. A lot of sound and fury.
I just went online to find one example. I see FilipinoCupid is still up and running and I am confident that will not change. As I said, I think this law was promulgated as a sop to some small faction but with no intention of being enforced which, as presently drafted, is nigh impossible even if the will to enforce existed. By application of the principle of territoriality, the nifty new law cannot be enforced beyond the borders of the RP, except perhaps against RP citizens.
It strikes me that the only way you could give the so-called law any teeth would be to criminalize such things as membership in, subscribing to, or availing of the services provided by the impugned dating sites, or whatever you care to call them.
The stories give no hint that those who use the prohibited services will be breaking the law. The Philstar link provided by the op contains this pithy sentence:
"Allowing consent to the acts prohibited by the proposed act of officials from the publication industry, television or radio station, of other media including internet websites and other schemes made available through the World Wide Web will also be considered unlawful."
I am having a hard time ascribing any meaning to that inelegantly-worded bit of tripe, but it would be drawing a long bow to conclude it means that service users will be subject to criminal sanction. I have not looked for the legislation itself, which would clarify the point (perhaps), because the whole thing is too silly to have any real attention paid to it.
As for the suggestion that those who met on these sites in years past must now live in fear of the the Gestapo arriving at the door, I dare say the fear is misplaced. The reports say nothing about retroactivity and a law criminalizing past conduct otherwise legal would be an unusual creature indeed.
Topic: Bill 5572, to be known as the Anti-Mail Order Spouse Act.Passed.. (Read 23482 times)