Mikey Arroyo Wants Facebook and Blogging To Be Regulated

Mikey Arroyo reacted to a photo of him that circulated on the Internet showing at Rustan's at the height of Typhoon Ondoy. The photo describes him as being callous shopping for alcoholic drinks while his countrymen were suffering. He lashed out and said that Facebook and other mediums should be regulated and that it was impossible for him to be at Rustan's at Katipunan since it was impassable at the time.

Here is the photo.

I haven't seen a lot of photos of Mikey Arroyo and the picture is blurry. There was also no time stamp on the photo so I can't really say if this photo is real or not so you be the judge. You can't believe everything to see or read on the Internet.

Here's the article from the Daily Tribune.

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09/30/2009

Presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo yesterday lashed out at bloggers of a popular Web site who posted his picture describing him as a callous public official busy shopping for alcoholic drinks even at the height of Typhoon "Ondoy’s" wrath last Saturday.

In a text message, the young Arroyo, though not denying it was him on the picture posted at Facebook, said it was rather impossible for him to stop by at Rustan’s Supermarket on Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City last Saturday to pick up some wines as the bloggers suggest as the street was rendered impassable by the floods. "My picture posted at Facebook with a caption saying I was busy shopping for wine at the height of Typhoon Ondoy is another malicious attack at my personality. It is so depressing," Arroyo said. "How could that be possible that I was at Rustan’s on Katipunan Avenue at the height of Typhoon Ondoy when Katipunan Avenue was impassable at that time?"

The presidential son claimed at the height of the typhoon, he was at Malacañang Saturday with all members of his families helping mobilize rescue and relief operations for areas affected by the storm.

"On record, I was in Malacañang at that time with all my family trying to mobilize rescue and relief operations for people of Metro Manila and for my constituents in my district in Pampanga," Arroyo said.

"It’s so unfortunate that while we were so busy then trying to help ease the sufferings of our kababayan, some people had the guts and the temerity to peddle malicious innuendos at the expense of others," he added.

The Pampanag solon suggested instead of resorting to grandstanding gimmickry at his expense, the bloggers should also busy themselves helping their countrymen who are still reeling from the effects of the worst natural calamity the country had experienced in decades.

"Kahit ang anak ko namimigay ng relief goods. Sana sila din may nagawa para makatulong sa ating mga kababayan na naging biktima ng kalamidad. Diyos na ang bahala sa kanila," Arroyo said. "Basta ako, I still have so many things to do to help our poor countrymen who were severely affected by Typhoon Ondoy. This is not the time to deal with people who are peddling half-truths and half-lies para lang sumikat."

While acknowledging that blogging, the latest craze to hit the Internet, is an exercise of freedom of expression, Arroyo said he believes it should still be regulated as it has become more susceptible to abuses by unscrupulous people.

"Nonetheless, I hope that Facebook and other like mediums be regulated so they can never be subjected to abuse by some scrupulous people. Facebook is easily susceptible to abuses as people can easily hide their identities," he stressed. "Masahol pa sila sa kwentong barbero." Charlie V. Manalo

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These politicians always want these things to be regulated just like the right to reply law they proposed. If they had their way, censorship would be the norm. Martial law anyone?

He said said that "instead of resorting to grandstanding gimmickry at his expense, the bloggers should also busy themselves helping their countrymen who are still reeling from the effects of the worst natural calamity the country had experienced in decades."

Excuse me? Grandstanding? Without bloggers, nobody would have known what's been happening to Metro Manila and the flood victims. A lot of people lost their cellphone signal and resorted to the Internet to get word out. Without Facebook, nothing would have been mobilized as most people only really found out what happened through sites like these.

Facebook and bloggers were also the first to respond with calls for donations and relief. Wall post on Facebook was also very effective in finding which areas needs relief and finding people who can help trapped relatives.

Facebook and blog sites became a more effective way of being updated than news sites. Everyone was getting snippets of information and the exchange of information made it more relevant to readers than watching major news organizations. Instant information made it great for everyone to quickly react to the situation instead of waiting for news sites to post an update.

The slow government reaction did not help either since the government was hardly a source for any relevant information.

Mikey also said that, "Facebook is easily susceptible to abuses as people can easily hide their identities". I wonder why?

In any case, I'm not trying to rip apart Mikey here. Just ignorant answers from someone who obviously is not Internet savvy.

Like I said, you can't believe everything you see on the Internet. The photo may have been taken at another time. It just happened to be posted during Typhoon Ondoy. So you be the judge on whether you believe the photo or not.