Several articles of the new Criminal Code (KUHP) and Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) may erode civil liberties and freedom of expression, particularly the right to criticise government policies, according to pro-democracy activists and scholars.

President Rodrigo Duterte is known among his supporters as “The Punisher”. But his punitive approach to governing includes telling jokes that disarm his audiences, often reducing them to laughter, as he names and shames his critics – often foreign and female.