Senate OKs bill allowing wiretapping of suspects in illegal drug trade

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate has approved a bill that would allow law enforcement agencies to conduct wiretapping and surveillance on individuals suspected of being involved in the illegal drug trade.

Senate Bill 3341, sponsored by committee on public order and dangerous drugs chairman Sen. Gregorio Honasan, was approved on third and final reading earlier this week.

The bill addresses the need to further strengthen the campaign against illegal drugs in the country by giving more power to law enforcement agencies to go after dealers, smugglers, financiers, manufacturers and even cultivators of substances declared illegal in Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“It will take more than the present methods to address the drug trade which has assumed global proportions and now poses a threat to national security. We need to upgrade our countermeasures against this global menace,” Honasan said.

Honasan cited the case of the United States where nine out of every 10 court-issued wiretapping orders were related to narcotics.

He noted the general principle remains that wiretapping is an invasion of privacy; however, the bill would only allow authorized intercepted conversations as evidence in court and only if it involves the sale, manufacturing, importing and financing of illegal drugs.

Section 3 of Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law provides for exceptions to the prohibition on wiretapping.

Under RA 4200, the following crimes may be considered in securing a court order for wiretapping purposes: 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 and kidnapping.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson filed his own version of the measure by expanding the exemptions to cover violations of the Dangerous Drugs Act as well as the Human Security Act of 2007, to include terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism.

According to Honasan, the rights of the people against unlawful actions from the State would still be protected under the bill, since authorities must still show the existence of probable cause when applying for a wiretapping order from the court.

At least one special division of the Court of Appeals would be designated to handle all requests for wiretapping orders under the bill.

The director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, the Philippine National Police chief and the National Bureau of Investigation director would have to clear all applications for wiretapping before these are filed ex parte, meaning only one party or the law enforcement agency concerned, before the Court of Appeals.