Solon confident Duterte will sign wiretap measure

A leader of the House of Representatives is certain President Duterte will immediately sign into law a bill seeking to authorize wiretapping in cases involving illegal drug trafficking and other cases.

Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro said he is hopeful that the bill would be signed into law before the year ends.

"I am confident that the President will sign the proposed wire-tapping law as this will strongly bolster his programs against corruption, drugs, crimes," he said after the House of Representatives passed on third and final reading House Bill 8378, which seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) No. 4200 or the 53-year old AntiWiretapping Law.

Deputy Speaker and South Cotabato Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez, author of the measure, cited the need to equip law enforcers tracking down drug personalities.

“The drug trade in the Philippines has reached the point that it became a known convenient transit point for drug dealers because of our geographic location and the absence of laws that will trace the communication regarding the trade,” he said.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said it is time for Congress to amend the Anti-Wiretapping Law "to keep pace with the advances in communications and telecommunications to protect our privacy and define privileged communication."

The Senate has yet to pass a counterpart measure.

Pangasinan Rep. Leopoldo Bataoil, who also authored the bill, said RA 4200 authorizes wiretapping for certain crimes through a written court order.

“The crimes, however, do not include illegal drug trafficking or any similar offenses,” Bataoil said.

A total of 216 House members voted for the bill during last week's plenary session.

Under the bill, wiretapping is allowed in violation of Republic Act No. 9165, otherwise known as the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002," as amended.

Aside from cases involving violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, the bill amends Section 3 of RA 4200 to allow wiretapping in the crimes of coup d’etat, conspiracy and proposal to commit coup d’etat, robbery in band as defined and penalized by Articles 294, 295 296, 299 and 302 of the Revised Code of the Philippines and Presidential Decree No. 532, otherwise known as the “Anti-Piracy and AntiRobbery Law of 1974."