Photograph evidence

Stephanie Pagdanganan

The pertinent circular when looking into the admissibility of cyber

evidence in Philippine law is A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC.- Re: Rules on
Electronic Evidence. Regarding photographs:

SECTION 1. Audio, video and similar evidence. – Audio, photographic and

video evidence of events, acts or transactions shall be admissible
provided is shall be shown, presented or displayed to the court and shall
be identified, explained or authenticated by the person who made the
recording or by some other person competent to testify on the accuracy
thereof.

To look more in detail regarding this, it is important to look at two

theories: the pictorial testimony, and the silent witness theory.

In the first theory, “photographic evidence is admissible when a

sponsoring witness can testify that it is a fair and accurate
representation of the subject matter. It is important to note, this
theory is based on the personal observation(s) of the witness.”1 In
other words, photographic evidence is highly dependent on what
the witness says.

In the second theory, what is looked at is the process; is the

process used to produce the photograph accurate and reputable?

1
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=8451aeb6-b353-47af-920d-badbdba86906
So what is important is not the testimony of the witness, but to look
at the equipment used, etc.