It’s almost hilarious: Quezon City representative Winston Castelo filed a bill called the “Anti-Planking Act of 2011” and caused pandemonium among the youth and the faithful citizens of the Internet.
His seemingly “smart” decision came about after a group of protesters recently disrupted traffic in Manila in protest against high oil prices.
The Anti-Planking Act of 2011 involves 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.”
Say what?!
Not only is the Anti-Planking Act frivolous, it’s also a waste of time and energy; lawmakers such as Castelo could have instead focused on pressing issues like poverty, corruption and his current mental health.
Countless tweets rose against the proposed act. You’ll drown in them if you check in Twitter.
I’m a worshipper of the Internet and I’ve never found planking to be amusing. But imposing a law against it is just ridiculous!
The Internet is not entirely a divine intellectual entity. But if its end users can make sense out of the viral memes and games that go around it, then why stop them from airing their grievances, having fun, or making social change?
PROTEST PLANKING. A police officer tries to dissuade protesters from carrying on their "planking" by lying prone on the pavement, blocking briefly the traffic at a busy roundabout in Manila, Philippines, Monday, Sept. 19, 2011 to support calls for a nationwide "transport holiday" following unabated oil price increases in the past weeks. The sign at left reads: Transport Strike Against Oil Price Hikes! (via Inquirer.net; AP Photo by Bullit Marquez)
University students in Davao City plank against the budget cuts (photo by Kit Frias)
On Thursday, the Kabataan Party-list party-list launched the “PLANK! For a Cause,” a campaign which aims to “enhance the use of planking for social causes and consolidate various planking photos around the world to dramatize the militancy and creativity of the youth.”
So, there you go Castelo: leave the Internet and its people alone, lest they cause social disruption and corruption in the real world.
And oh, plank responsibly.
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