“I am very sad because my two kids will now have to grow up without their father. He really loves his two kids and always talks about their future.”
This was according to Enimsaj Egos, a Filipino partner of a young man who committed suicide recently.
The significant case of the young man, Late Martin Astra Laore who was from Shortlands in the Western province caught much attention recently because of its nature which relates to cyberbullying in social media.
As a local student undertaking Business Management studies at the Central Philippines University (CPU), Iloilo City, Philippines for the last three years, Late Martin had to return to the country last year via the repatriation flights organized by the Solomon Islands government in December 2020 due to the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic.
After trying for some time to locate his whereabouts in the Solomon Islands, Ms. Egos, the mother of his two kids who is currently residing in the City of Iloilo in the Philippines, sought assistance via social media to locate her partner.
“It’s been 10 months away from us, but I’ve managed to locate him and we talked about the children,” Ms. Egos recalled.
She said Martin was a good person when they live together in the Philippines.
“We spent three years together and he left on December of last year, 2020,” she said.
An innocent search and request to locate her partner ended up with the young man being targeted by social media groups on Facebook – he was being accused of neglecting his two kids back in the Philippines.
While some genuinely tried to help, others ridiculed, teased, and posted pictures of the young man online and this private matter became public.
Just days after the post was posted on Facebook, news surfaced that the young man has committed suicide.
The case of Late Martin Astra Laore can be a turning point as far as this Cyberbullying Issue is concerned. It has the potential to cause pain to family members and friends.
Ms. Enimsaj Egos admitted to Sunday Isles News when interviewed, “Facing life is hard because I have needs too, I need the support of my partner but now my two kids will have to grow up without their father which is very sad.”
One of late Martin’s fellow student colleagues when he was studying in the Philippines, Bobby Bosa said, “He was a very nice person who we always turn to for advice and counselling when we are in the Philippines.
“He was the one who advised us about depression and sadly in the end it was he who is a victim to depression as a result of cyberbullying, I’m very sad.”
Another recent victim, Talie Hong, who is now an advocator against cyberbullying spoke of her experience as a victim stating that it was a very emotional and painful experience and it affects her both emotionally and mentally.
“The incident happened in October of 2019, my picture was posted on a ‘Buy and Sell” page on Facebook and it attracts a lot of attention and hundreds of bad and negative comments.
“Even though the post was taken down after 48 hours, my reputation was tarnished to the ground,” said Talie Hong.
She said that now she can’t be silent anymore and she wants to use her experience to help anyone who is going through a similar experience to remind them that they are not alone.
Meanwhile, whilst the country does not have proper legislation to deal with this kind of case online, the Director of Communications Department within the Ministry of Communications and Aviation (MCA), Mr. Alwyn Danitofea has to make assurance that with the support from the Australian Attorney General Office, a technical working group is at present drafting a ‘Cybercrime Legislation Bill’ which is currently at the drafting instruction stage.
Whilst it’s good news to address online safety for citizens in the country, experiences from other countries in the Asia Pacific region have indicated that any such bill can have the potential to restrict free speech, for example, some countries have used ‘online safety’ as a basis for limiting free speech via an ‘Online Safety Act’.
However, Mr. Danitofea said that all cybercrime laws in most countries are based on three fundamental principles: 1. Confidentiality of informations, 2. Integrity, and 3. Accessibility.
“Those are the basis that will be considered when drafting the ‘Cybercrime Legislation Bill’,” he said.
Mr. Danitofea further explained that once finalized, it should go through an iterated process where the bill will be refined to reach a certain desired stage.
“After that, the bill will be sent to the cabinet for approval and table in parliament for deliberations,” he explained.
Mr. Danitofea said that with support from the ‘International Telecommunications Union’ a technical working group was established in 2018 and have drafted a cyber-security provision or policy framework which the government is using at the moment and currently the same group is working in partnership with the Australian Attorney General Office to draft a ‘Cybercrime Legislation Bill’.
As one commentator stated on Facebook, clear cases of cyberbullying are occurring almost every day and the public debate spurred as a result of it is important – it is about time we have such conversations.
