The Anti-Planking Act of 2011 which was filed to Congress by QC representative Winnie Castelo has been receiving lots of flak on social networking sites.
Planking, if you’ve been living under a rock, is a recent fad consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location for photograps. In planking, the participant’s hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph taken and posted on the internet is part of the game.
The bill by Rep. Winnie Castelo seeks not to prohibit “planking” per se, but when it becomes a form of protest which was demonstrated by a group of militant students called League of Filipino Students (LFS), it’s a no-no. The said students staged a “die-in” protest in the form of planking to block vehicles during a transport strike along a main street in Welcome Rotonda, Espana in Metro Manila yesterday, September 19, 2011.
“I was really worried as a parent. I have kids. I was also a UP student and I sympathize with them. It is normal to air their grievances and I welcome that as a lawmaker. However, as a parent, we have to see to it that their lives are protected as well,” Castelo told ABS-CBN.
Castelo pointed out that the proposed Anti-Planking Act of 2011 will not prohibit the constitutional right of freedom of expression. He proposed the creation of a universal Code of Student Conduct “where planking as a form of redress of grievance be strictly prohibited and appropriate sanctions be applied for violations thereof.”
He also urged schools and university officials to impose sanctions on students who conduct planking to air their grievances especially when it poses a danger to themselves or to the public.
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