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Is unauthorised recording of
private conversations legal
in the Philippines?
By Timothy Walker - October 16, 2014

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No matter the situation, recording

any conversation without the
consent of the person speaking is
against the law in the Philippines.

Even those in heated

exchanges (including
landlord disputes, spousal
disputes and more) are not
allowed to record. On a side
note, there is also a law
against yelling at someone
in the Philippines, but more
on that later in a different
context.

Even in instances where

your record someone
committing an offence, or
using it in a court case in the
Philippines, Article III,
Section #3 of the Philippine
Constitution (of 1987)
states: “The privacy of
communication and
correspondence shall be
inviolable except upon lawful
order of the court, or when
public safety or order
requires otherwise, as
prescribed by law…..”

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The protection on private

communications is noted in
Republic Act Ra-4200 known
as “An Act to Prohibit and
Penalize Wire Tapping And
Other Related Violations of
the Privacy Of
Communication, and for
Other Purpose,” which
enumerates and specifies
acts that are considered as
violations of private
communications and the
penalties for such acts.

According to RA-4200 it says

as follows:

Section 1. It shall be
unlawful for any person, not
being authorized by all the
parties to any private
communication or spoken
word, to tap any wire or
cable, or by using any other
device or arrangement, to
secretly overhear, intercept,
or record such
communication or spoken
word by using a device
commonly known as a
Dictaphone or dictographs or
walkie-talkie or tape
recorder, or however
otherwise described:

The law goes on to say:

It shall also be unlawful for

any person, be he a
participant or not in the act
or acts penalized in the next
preceding sentence, to
knowingly possess any tape
record, wire record, disc
record, or any other such
record, or copies thereof, of
any communication or
spoken word secured either
before or after the effective
date of this Act in the
manner prohibited by this
law; or to replay the same
for any other person or
persons; or to communicate
the contents thereof, either
verbally or in writing, or to
furnish transcriptions
thereof, whether complete or
partial, to any other person:
Provided, That the use of
such record or any copies
thereof as evidence in any
civil, criminal investigation
or trial of offenses
mentioned in section 3
hereof, shall not be covered
by this prohibition.

In short, you are prohibited

from recording any type or
form of communication
without the consent of the
conversing parties (whether
written or verbal).

Even if the party you are

recording involves more than
one, and one is giving
consent, that does not give
you the right to record for
any reason, as stated above.

This law also covers

reproduction, distribution,
and replay (even if it is a
transcript of such) of any
type of communication that
is not authorised.

Possessing such an item that

has been recorded even
borders on the act, and is
punishable by law.

Owning, keeping or any

other act to hold an
unauthorised recording
against someone by threat
of violence or retaliation, or
for the simple fact of using it
in court to support your
case, is in fact, illegal.

Section 4 of the RA-4200

says: “Section 4. Any
communication or spoken
word, or the existence,
contents, substance,
purport, effect, or meaning
of the same or any part
thereof, or any information
therein contained obtained
or secured by any person in
violation of the preceding
sections of this Act shall not
be admissible in evidence in
any judicial, quasi-judicial,
legislative or administrative
hearing or investigation.”

In short, any unauthorized

recording of a private
conversation is illegal and is
of no use in a court hearing.
The simple possession of
such a recording can expose
you to criminal liability,
should you record someone.

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