The novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, has become a global health crisis, where, as of June 13, 2020, hundreds of thousands have died and millions of people have been infected. In the Philippines, this translates into more than 25,000 infected, and over a thousand deaths. In a country with a dual and decentralised healthcare system, wherein only a part of the health premiums are subsidised by the government, the pandemic is a huge health challenge because of resource and capacity limitations.

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... As a response, the Philippine government has undertaken measures to curb the spread of the virus. This includes travel restrictions, various levels of community quarantines and the T3 (test, trace and treat) program. To fully implement these measures, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act on March 25, 2020. This act declares the pandemic as a national emergency and authorises the president to exercise emergency powers necessary to ensure public health and safety (Congress of the Philippines, 2020a). Though the Bayanihan Act is commendable for its provisions on the remuneration for healthcare front-liners, a prohibition on the hoarding of basic necessities, and cash and non-cash relief for indigent and unemployed citizens, it still includes a highly questionable provision on the criminalisation of fake news. The false information provision Section 6f of the Bayanihan Act criminalises people who make and spread false information (on social media and other platforms). Accordingly, people who proliferate information that have 'no valid or beneficial effect on the population, and are clearly geared to promote panic, chaos, anarchy, fear and confusion' shall be imprisoned for up to two months or be fined for up to one million pesos (approx. US$ 25,000.00) (Congress of the Philippines, 2020a).