LAWMAKERS WANT HOAX TEXTING MADE A CRIME

By InterAksyon Lawmakers on Wednesday said the sending of hoax text messages, like the one that circulated early this week warning of “acid rain” tainted with radiation from a damaged Japanese nuclear plant, should be criminalized, even as the National TelecommunicationsCommission admitted it was powerless to prevent this from happening. Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone, vice chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on information and communications technology, said such hoax messages could be intended to sow panic as part of destabilization or terrorist plots.