Wiretapping against coup plotters, money laundering people and drug lords were included in the measure proposed by Senator Panfilo Lacson to amend and finetune the Anti-Wiretapping Law.
In filing Senate Bill 48, Lacson said the country’s law enforcers may soon acquire more tools to fight off dangerous crimes such as illegal drugs, money laundering and coups with the use of wiretapping or electronic eavesdropping.
Lacson suggested to add these crimes to the list of offenses “wherein law-enforcement officers can, through court order, tap any wire or cable, or by using any other device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record private communication or spoken word in order to strengthen the measures of the government and its law enforcement agencies in fulfilling its mandate of protecting life, liberty, and property against the malefactors in our society.”
Lacson’s bill seeks to amend Republic Act 4200 (Anti-Wiretapping Law) to include certain crimes where wiretapping may be deemed lawful under certain circumstances. These crimes are the following: coup d’etat, conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’etat, robbery in band, brigandage/highway robbery, violations of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
While wiretapping, despite its limited applications, has been an effective tool by law enforcement agencies against criminal elements who have brought havoc, instability and lack of equanimity in the country to the detriment of many of our peace-loving citizens, Lacson said there are other crimes that are not covered by the law.
“Unfortunately, there are still certain crimes that are not covered under the said exceptional cases, which put not only the lives and property of our people in paramount danger, but also pose a grave threat to our nation’s security,” said Lacson.
The senator noted that the peace-and-order situation in the country gives testament to this fact and “thus, it is imperative for us to revisit RA 4200 in order to enhance its effectiveness.”
Under the present law, Lacson related that the instances where wiretapping is allowed include treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war, piracy, mutiny in the high seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition, kidnapping and violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing espionage and other offenses against national security.
The Human Security Act of 2007 also included terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism in the list of acts that can be wiretapped, provided the Court of Appeals gave its written permission.