Lost Voices - What are you doing Philippines?

I am never going to live in Vietnam.  Not even if you pay me a million.  Not even if its the last country on earth.

Just recently, Vietnam has jailed three (3) bloggers for what they call “anti-state propaganda".  These bloggers wrote and posted articles denouncing corruption and injustice while criticizing Hanoi's foreign policy.

According to a court statement, these bloggers “abused the popularity of the Internet to post articles which undermined and blackened (Vietnam's) leaders, criticizing the (Communist) party (and) destroying people's trust in the state."

If convicted, the three can face up to 20 years in prison.

I may be slow, but I know that posting against corruption and injustice does not warrant imprisonment.

More so if it is the truth and the government is indeed corrupt and unjust.

In a very distressing twist, the mother of one of these bloggers died by setting herself on fire in an effort to denounce her daughter’s charges.  See related article here.

According to Reporters Without Borders,  Vietnam is ranked 172 out of 179 countries in its 2011-2012 press freedom index and is identified as an "Enemy of the Internet" because of systematic use of cyber-censorship.

Btw, Philippines is no. 140.  But with the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, it is on its way to the top.

Ooops, that's all I'm gonna say about it.  I'm not very fond of jail.

Note:  Image from Politifact.com