My phones are tapped – De Lima

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Leila de Lima yesterday claimed her mobile phones have been tapped for sometime now. For what purpose, she has no idea.

During a hearing of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs where the proposed bills to amend the Anti-Wiretapping Law were taken up, De Lima said she has long suspected that her phones are being tapped.

“So what legit purpose is being served? Am I a terrorist or coddler as some people are saying? Is that the purpose why they are tapping my cell phones? I don’t expect anyone to answer that question. I’m just thinking aloud,” she said partly in Filipino.

“Let’s not fool each other. I like watching detective stories. You want to respond to that?” De Lima said, addressing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa then retorted, “I am also suspecting that my cell phone is being tapped. We’re the same.”

“But my attitude always is, I don’t care. Why should I care about that? I don’t care. They can listen to everything. Anyway I’m not the one violating the law, I’m not the one violating the rights of others,” De Lima said.

According to Dela Rosa, the PNP has “no control over the technology.”

He said that some foreigners have that kind of technology but Philippine authorities have no control over these.

“They can monitor our conversation from a far away place,” he said.

Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Dela Rosa said there was no proof of De Lima being wiretapped.

“The question is, is she really being wiretapped? It’s just her suspicion. She said she was told that she is being wiretapped,” Dela Rosa said.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the committee, said he does not believe the PNP does not have wiretapping capabilities.

Lacson, a former PNP chief, said that during his time in 1999, the police force was able to use this technology.

“Of course they have. Now if I were in their position, I would deny it too. These are sensitive issues,” Lacson said.

Several bills filed to amend Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law were taken up during the hearing, including those filed by Lacson and Sens. Grace Poe and Juan Edgardo Angara.

All these bills seek to include violations of the Dangerous Drugs Act in the coverage of the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

Angara said that with the huge drug problem the country is facing, it is but timely to legalize wiretapping to ensure the arrest of drug syndicates.

He said wiretapping has been proven effective in leading to some of the largest drug stings in other countries.

While the Duterte administration has stepped up its campaign against illegal drugs, the resolution of cases related to this crime remains very low.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II noted that from 2011 to 2015, a total of 126,016 drug-related cases were filed but only 3,482 of these resulted in convictions.

He said many of these are either still under investigation or being tried in the courts.

Aguirre said part of the campaign was the replacement of guards at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) by members of the PNP-Special Action Force (SAF).

A day after taking over the NBP, the SAF troops were able to recover almost 200 cell phones, P1.6 million in drugs, signal jammers and boosters and other contraband.

Aguirre said they need a powerful signal jammer inside the NBP in order to ensure that the inmates have no way of communicating with their contacts outside, particularly to continue their illegal drug operations.

He appealed to the supporters of President Duterte to donate the equipment so that the Department of Justice would no longer have to go through a procurement process, which he said would take a long time to complete.