Toni Fowler | Image: Instagram/@tonifowlerpo
The Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas (KSMBP) said the case filed for obscenity against vlogger Toni Fowler was “justified and vindicated” after Pasay Regional Trial Court-Branch 108 found probable cause to issue a warrant of arrest against the accused.
On Friday, Jan. 19, Pasay RTC 108 ordered the arrest of the social media personality on three counts of alleged violation of Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 due to her “obscene” music videos.
KSMBP President Leo O. Olarte explained that it is their responsibility to oversee the right conduct being practiced on any social media platform.
“KSMBP has a social media mandate to observe decency, dignity, morals and good customs in the use of any social media platform, thus this complaint for Gross Violation of RPC Art. 201 & the Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 2012, was justified & vindicated when the Pasay RTC 108, found probable cause to issue a Warrant of Arrest against the accused,” Olarte, who is a lawyer, told INQUIRER.net.
Olarte attested that Fowler had failed to reach out to the association since the first filing of the case in September, as the YouTube personality justified her actions as part of her freedom of expression and “womanhood.”
“Accused Toni Fowler has not reached out nor attempted to do so. In fact she instead strongly defended her actions and omissions by stating that: she is free to do what she pleases with her own body, her womanhood and her actions, and that, we have no right to forbid women from doing, wearing and saying what they want when it comes to sexual conversations, between women, because it isn’t illegal,” explained the KSMBP president.
After Fowler’s arrest on Friday, the vlogger-actress posted a bail bond worth P120,000 late in the afternoon. Olarte said they would continue to prove the alleged violations of the accused.
“The next step of course is for KSMBP representatives to attend the scheduled court hearings and to prove beyond reasonable doubt her alleged violations of ART. 201 of the RPC in connection with the violation of Sec. 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” he said.