REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTAT
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4151

House Bill No.

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

Explanatory Note

Article Il, Section 5 of the Constitution states that the maintenance of peace and order, the
protection of life, liberty, and property, and promotion of the general welfare are essential for the
enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy. However, the maintenance of our
peace and order is threatened by our worsening drug problem.

According to the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB), the prevalence of drug use in the country
increased by 2.3% in 2015 compared in their 2012 figures. According to their 2012 survey, there
are 1.3 million drug users in 2012, which increased to 1.76 million in 2015, The current
administration identifies the anti-drug campaign as its core policy, In fact, as of mid-September
2016, there have been more than 715,000 surrenderees, 18,000 drug personalities arrested, and
over 3,500 deaths both from legitimate police operations and extrajudicial or unexplained
killings.

However, deficits in equipment, training, and intelligence sharing, impairs our efforts against
illegal drugs. Not to mention our extensive coastline, most of which is unpatrolled or
uninhabited, which serves as a gateway of illegal drug trade in the country. Hence, there is a
need to provide our law enforcers additional tool to combat the prevalence of illegal drugs in the
country.

This bill seeks to amend Section 3 of Republic Act No, 4200 or the Anti-Wiretapping Law which
recommends to exempt law enforcement agencies who are conducting illegal drug operations
from the realm of RA 4200, Wiretapping has been used to solve major crimes such as terrorism
and drug trafficking in the United States. Wiretapping has helped establish the flow of drugs and
the structure of syndicates and how they are managed from the source to the market. ‘This
measure hopes to establish the involvement of heads of syndicates and their financiers, which is
otherwise not disclosed during actual criminal activities, via their recorded conversations.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this measure is earnestly sought.

HON GARY €. ALEJANO


REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. (‘A151

Introduced by MAGDALO Party-List Representative
HON. GARY C. ALEJANO

AN ACT
AUTHORIZING WIRE TAPPING IN CA‘ INVOLVING VIOLATIONS OF
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9165, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE "COMPREHENSIVE
DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT OF 2002", AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION 3
OF REPUBLIC ACT NO, 4200, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO PROHIBIT AND PENALIZE
WIRE TAPPING AND OTHER RELATED VIOLATIONS OF THE PRIVACY OF
COMMUNICATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSE!

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

1 SECTION 1. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 4200, entitled "An Act to
2 Prohibit and Penalize Wire Tapping and Other Related Violations of the Privacy of
3 Communication, and for Other Purposes", is hereby amended to read as follows:

4 "SEC. 3. Nothing contained in this Act, however, shall render it
5 unlawful or punishable for any peace officer AND LAW ENFORCER, who
6 is authorized by a written order of the Court, to execute any of the acts
7 declared to be unlawful in the two preceding sections in cases involving the
8 crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war,
9 piracy, mutiny in the high seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit
10 rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition,
u inciting to sedition, kidnapping as defined by the Revised Penal Code,
12 VIOLATIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9165, OTHERWISE KNOWN
3 AS THE COMPREHENSIVE DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT OF 2002, and
4 violations of Commonwealth Act No. 616, punishing espionage and other
15 offenses against national security: Provided, That such written order shall only
16 be issued or granted upon written application and the examination under oath
v7 or affirmation of the applicant and the witnesses he may produce and a
18 showing: (1) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that any of the
19 crimes enumerated hereinabove has been committed or is being committed or
20 is about to be committed: Provided, however, That in cases involving the
2 offenses of rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to
2 rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, and inciting to sedition,


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such authority shall be granted only upon prior proof that a rebellion or aets of
sedition, as the case may be, have actually been or are being committed; (2)
that there are reasonable grounds to believe that evidence will be obtained
essential to the conviction of any person for, or to the solution of, or to the

prevention of, any of such crimes; and (3) that there are no other means

readily available for obtaining such evidence.

XXX

The court referred to in this section shall be understood to mean the
[Court of First Instance] REGIONAL TRIAL COURT within whose

territorial j

sdiction the acts for which authority is applied for are to be

executed."

SEC. 2. If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or unconstitutional, the
remainder of the law or the provision not otherwise affected shall remain valid and
subsisting.

SI Section 3 of Republic Act No. 4200 and all other laws, presidential

decrees or issuances, executive orders, letters of instruction, administrative orders,
rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are

hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.

SEC. 4. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the

Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,