In Italy, a court has found three Google executives guilty of privacy violations, spurring a debate on whether the Internet works like a newspaper (restrained by libel and censorship laws) or like a telephone (say anything you want). In the Philippines, what chance do I have against the circulation on the Net of an article I am alleged to have written but never ever did write?

The article was first circulated more than 10 years ago, immediately upon which I issued a denial and disclaimer. It didn’t work. My word was no help against my byline, freely and wrongfully used by whoever thought my name could promote a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as the Little Flower.

After an unending cycle of publication-denial-publication, the article seems to have acquired a life of its own, surfacing and resurfacing, to what purpose and for what ends I do not know. But this time things have gone too far. This time they’re using my picture with it, as if to “authenticate” a willing source.

I may have written a term paper on St. Therese when I was in high school, but as my classmates and religion teacher will probably remember, I’m not the type to endorse a religious devotion. Whoever has been using my name and now my picture is doing a disservice to the sweet-faced saint. If you believe in angels and saints, if you pray for their intercession, be Christian enough to stop stealing my byline. If I know St. Therese, she wouldn’t like it.