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*
G.R. No. 93833. September 28, 1995.
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* FIRST DIVISION.
591
592
KAPUNAN, J.:
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593
sabing ganoon—
ESG—Ito and (sic) masasabi ko sa 'yo, ayaw kung (sic) mag
explain ka, kasi hanggang 10:00 p.m., kinabukasan
hindi ka na pumasok. Ngayon ako ang babalik sa 'yo,
nagaapply ka sa States, nagaapply ka sa review mo,
kung kakailanganin ang certification mo, kalimutan mo
na kasi hindi ka sa akin makakahingi.
CHUCHI—Hindi M’am, kasi ang ano ko talaga noon i
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594
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INFORMATION
That on or about the 22nd day of February, 1988, in Pasay City Metro
Manila, Philippines, and within the jurisdiction of this honorable court,
the abovenamed accused, Socorro D. Ramirez not being authorized by
Ester S. Garcia to record the latter’s conversation with said accused, did
then and there wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously, with the use of a tape
recorder secretly record the said conversation and thereafter
communicate in writing the contents of the said recording to other
person.
Contrary to law.
Pasay City, Metro Manila, September 16, 1988.
MARIANO M. CUNETA
Asst. City Fiscal
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4
a person other than a participant to the communication.
From the trial court’s Order, the private respondent
filed a Petition for Review on Certiorari with this Court,
which forthwith referred the case to the Court of Appeals
in a Resolution (by the First Division) of June 19, 1989.
On February 9, 1990, respondent Court of Appeals
promulgated its assailed Decision declaring the trial court’s
order of May 3, 1989 null and void, and holding that:
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4 Rollo, p. 9.
5 Rollo, p. 37.
6 Rollo, p. 99, Annex “H.”
7 Rollo, p. 13.
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8 Id.
9 Rollo, p. 14.
10 Rollo, pp. 1415.
596
conversations or communica
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11 Pacific Oxygen and Acytelene Co. vs. Central Bank, 37 SCRA 685
(1971).
12 Casela v. Court of Appeals, 35 SCRA 279 (1970).
13 Rollo, p. 33.
597
xxx
Senator Tanada : That qualified only ‘overhear.’
Senator Padilla : So that when it is intercepted or recorded,
the element of secrecy would not appear to be material.
Now, suppose. Your Honor, the recording is not made by
all the parties but by some parties and involved not
criminal cases that would be mentioned under section 3
but would cover, for example civil cases or special
proceedings whereby a recording is made not necessarily
by all the parties but perhaps by some in an effort to
show the intent of the parties because the actuation of
the parties prior, simultaneous even subsequent to the
contract or the act may be indicative of their intention.
Suppose there is such a recording, would you say, Your
Honor, that the intention is to cover it within the
purview of this bill or outside?
Senator Tanada : That is covered by the purview of this
bill, Your Honor.
Senator Padilla : Even if the record should be used not in
the prosecution of offense but as evidence to be used in
Civil Cases or special proceedings?
Senator Tanada : That is right. This is a complete ban on
tape recorded conversations taken without the
authorization of all the parties .
Senator Padilla : Now, would that be reasonable, Your
Honor?
Senator Tanada : I believe it is reasonable because it is not
sporting to record the observation of one without his
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598
xxx
(Congressional Record, Vol. III, No. 33, p. 626, March 12, 1964)
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xxx
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14 Rollo, p. 67.
599
“It has been said that innocent people have nothing to fear from
their conversations being overheard. But this statement ignores
the usual nature of conversations as well as the undeniable fact
that most, if not all, civilized people have some aspects of their
lives they do not wish to expose. Free conversations are often
characterized by exaggerations, obscenity, aggreable falsehoods,
and the expression of antisocial desires of views not intended to
be taken seriously. The right to the privacy of com munication,
among others, has expressly been assured by our Constitution.
Needless to state here, the framers of our Constitution must have
recognized the nature of conversations between individuals and
the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his
intellect. They must have known that part of the pleasures and
satisfactions of life are to be found in the unaudited, and free
exchange of communication between individuals—free
17
from every
unjustifiable intrusion by whatever means.”
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600
18
In Gaanan vs. Intermediate Appellate Court, a case which
dealt with the issue of telephone wiretapping, we held that
the use of a telephone extension for the purpose of
overhearing a private conversation without authorization
did not violate R.A. 4200 because a telephone extension
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——o0o——
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18 145 SCRA 112 (1986). See also, SalcedoOrtañez v. CA 235 SCRA 111
(1994).
19 Id., at 120.
20 Id., at 121.
601
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