Republic Act No.

10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is a Philippine Republic Act

signed by President Aquino on 12 September 2012. It aims to address legal issues concerning online
interactions. Among the cybercrime offenses included in the bill are cybersquatting, cybersex, child
pornography, identity theft, illegal access to data and libel, but the new Act received mixed reactions
upon its enactment especially on the grounds of freedom of expression, freedom of speech and data
security. Several petitions are currently submitted to the Supreme Court of the Philippines questioning
the constitutionality of the Act.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is the first law in the Philippines which specifically
criminalizes computer crime, which prior to the passage of the law had no strong legal precedent in
Philippine jurisprudence. The Act, divided into 31 sections split across eight chapters, criminalizes
several types of offenses, including illegal access (hacking), data interference, device misuse,
cybersquatting, computer-related offenses such as computer fraud, content-related offenses such as
cybersex and spam, and other offenses.

The Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009

The highly publicized sex videos of celebrity physician Hayden Kho with various celebrity
partners rocked Philippine society in May 2009 and was quickly shared online and later distributed
through DVD in the streets and sidewalks. In response to this, Congress passed Republic Act 9995 (Anti-
Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009) to prevent the publication and distribution of similar material
in the future. The law prohibits recording videos or taking photos of a sexual act, the male or female
genitalia, and of the female breast, among others, without consent of the persons featured in the
material. The law ultimately seeks to prevent the reproduction, distribution, and publication of said
material regardless of whether or not the persons featured consented to the recording.

Prohibited Acts

The Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act prohibits the following acts:

1. The unconsented taking of a photo or video of a person or group of persons engaged in a

sexual act or any similar activity, or capturing an image of the private area of a person,
under circumstances in which the said person has a reasonable expectation of privacy;
2. The copying or reproduction of such photo or video recording of the sexual act;
3. The selling or distribution of such photo or video recording;
4. The publication or broadcasting, whether in print or broadcast media, or the showing of
such sexual act or any similar activity through VCD/DVD, the internet, cellular phones, and
other similar means or devices without the written consent of the persons featured.

Republic Act No. 9775

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has signed into law a bill criminalizing child pornography,
Malacañang announced Wednesday. Republic Act No. 9775 or Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009
penalizes offenders with one-month imprisonment to life sentence, and a fine of P300,000 P5 million,
depending on the gravity of the offense.
 The new law defines child pornography as “any representation, whether visual, audio or written
combination thereof, by electronic, mechanical, digital, optical, magnetic or any other means, of a child
engaged or involved in real or simulated explicit sexual activity." Tarlac Rep. Monica Teodoro, one of the
principal authors of the bill, hailed the development. “We used to be a haven for child pornography
proliferators and foreign pedophiles, now our country is going to be a safe haven for children," she said.
Under the law, a “child victim" is as any person, regardless of age, that was portrayed as a child.
Computer-generated, digitally or manually crafted images or graphics of a person who was made to
appear like a child would also be considered as victim. Victims are recognized as “victims of a violent
crime" and may claim for compensation before the Board of Claims under the Department of Justice.

Republic Act No. 9208 Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 (May 26, 2003)

This law aims “to promote human dignity, protect the people from any threat of violence and
exploitation, and mitigate pressures for involuntary migration and servitude of persons, not only to
support trafficked persons but more importantly, to ensure their recovery, rehabilitation and
reintegration into the mainstream of society.”

Acts of trafficking include sex tourism, sex slavery, prostitution, pornography and those under
the pretense of arranged marriage, adoption, or the recruitment of children in armed conflict.

It imposes a penalty of 6 years to life imprisonment or a fine of from P500,000 to P2 million,

depending on the act committed.

Republic Act No. 4200, or the Anti-Wiretapping Law, was passed on June 19, 1965, to safeguard the
constitutional right to privacy of communication.

The law prohibits the tapping of any wire or cable or using other devices to record, intercept, or
secretly overhear any private communication or spoken word when it is unauthorized by all parties in
the conversation, except when it is done pursuant to a court order and complies with all conditions
imposed by the law.

Possession of any tape, wire, disc, or other record, or copies of an illegally obtained recording of
a private communication and replaying an illegal recording for another person or furnishing transcripts
of the communication, whether complete or partial, are also punishable by law.

According to the explanatory note in the Senate Bill No. 9 introduced by Sen. Lorenzo Tañada in
1962, the law also intends to stop the practice of government officials of spying on each other—a “most
obnoxious instrument of oppression or arbitrary power.”

Any illegally obtained recordings are inadmissible in any judicial, quasijudicial, administrative,
and legislative hearings or investigations.

Direct participants to the wiretapping and anyone who aids, permits, or causes the violation are,
upon conviction, punished by imprisonment of not less than six months or more than six years. If the
offender is a public official at the time of the offense, he shall be penalized with perpetual absolute
disqualification from public office. If the offender is a foreigner, he shall be subject to deportation.