Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said a presidential committee "apparently " recommended to Congress to amend the Bill of Rights by including the word "responsible" in the use of free speech.

"They apparently did," said Roque in a briefing in Kalibo, Aklan, on Saturday. The committee Roque is referring to is the Presidential Committee on Human Rights, where Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea is the chairman.

Unless it was Medialdea who submitted the recommendation, President Rodrigo Duterte is not bound by it.

But Roque added that as far as President Rodrigo Duterte is concerned, "the President sees no need to amend it."

Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro on Tuesday recommended to insert the phrase "responsible exercise" in Section 4 of the Bill of Rights. This reads: “No law shall be passed abridging the responsible exercise of the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances."

"This time, if you go around, there is so much abuse of this freedom. They think it is unrestrained. Therefore, we propose the insertion of that phrase," Castro said at the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments' deliberations on charter change.

Issues on press freedom this week gained traction after the Securities and Exchange Corporation (SEC) ordered the revocation of the articles of incorporation of Rappler Inc. and Rappler Holdings Corp., over allegedly violating the Constitutional provision that mass media should be wholly Filipino-owned.

Rappler, an online news website, has been critical of Duterte. Duterte denied he had a hand in the SEC's decision. DMS