Disini v.

Secretary of Justice (Feb 18, 2014 and April 22, 2014 MR)

ARTICLE VI: The Legislative Department. SECTION 1. The legislative power shall be vested in the Congress of the
Philippines which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives, except to the extent reserved to the people
by the provision on initiative and referendum.

FACTS:

• Consolidated petitions seeking to declare several provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act unconstitutional
and void
• What is the cybercrime law?
o cybercrime law aims to regulate access to and use of the cyberspace
o It seeks to punish those with ill will and use cyberspace technology for mischief and crimes
o Therefore the government has a legitimate right to regulate the use of cyberspace.
• Petitioners argue that the means adopted by the cybercrime law for regulating undesirable cyber activities
violate constitutional rights
• The government of course asserts that the law merely seeks to reasonably put order into cyberspace activities,
punish wrongdoings, and prevent hurtful attacks on the system.
• The following provisions of the Cybercrime law are challenged for being unconstitutional:
1. Section 4(a)(1) on Illegal Access
2. Section 4(a)(3) on Data Interference
3. Section 4(a)(6) on Cyber-squatting;
4. Section 4(b)(3) on Identity Theft
5. Section 4(c)(1) on Cybersex
6. Section 4(c)(2) on Child Pornography
7. Section 4(c)(3) on Unsolicited Commercial Communications – UNCONSTITUTIONAL
8. Section 4(c)(4) on Libel;
9. Section 5 on Aiding or Abetting and Attempt in the Commission of Cybercrimes;
10. Section 6 on the Penalty of One Degree Higher;
11. Section 7 on the Prosecution under both the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and R.A. 10175;
12. Section 8 on Penalties;
13. Section 12 on Real-Time Collection of Traffic Data – UNCONSTITUTIONAL
14. Section 13 on Preservation of Computer Data;
15. Section 14 on Disclosure of Computer Data;
16. Section 15 on Search, Seizure and Examination of Computer Data;
17. Section 17 on Destruction of Computer Data;
18. Section 19 on Restricting or Blocking Access to Computer Data – UNCONSTITUTIONAL
19. Section 20 on Obstruction of Justice;
20. Section 24 on Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC); and
21. Section 26(a) on CICC’s Powers and Functions.
22. Some petitioners also raise the constitutionality of related Articles 353, 354, 361, and 362 of the RPC
on the crime of libel.

ISSUES/HELD:

Illegal Access: Sec. 4(a)(1) – Valid

Section 4. Cybercrime Offenses. - The following acts constitute the offense of cybercrime punishable under this Act:

(a) Offenses against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems:

(1) Illegal Access. - The access to the whole or any part of a computer system without right.

• Petitioners: Section 4(a)(1) fails to meet the strict scrutiny standard required of laws that interfere with the
fundamental rights of the people and should thus be struck down.
• Strict scrutiny standard – a legislative classification that impermissibly interferes with the exercise of
fundamental right or operates to the peculiar class disadvantage of a suspect class is presumed
unconstitutional.

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 o Burden is on government to prove
§ that the classification is necessary to achieve a compelling state interest and
§ That it is the least restrictive means to protect such interest
• SC: There is no need to apply the strict scrutiny standard since no fundamental freedom (like speech) is
involved in punishing a condemnable act – accessing the computer of another without right.
• Petitioners: this will jeopardize the work of ethical hackers
o Ethical hackers – evaluate the target system’s security and report back to the owners the
vulnerabilities they found in it and give instructions for how these can be remedied.
• But this has no bearing since a client and an ethical hacker will agree on the search and its extent.
o A “get out of jail free” card
o Since the ethical hacker does his job with prior permission from the client, such permission would
insulate him from the coverage of Section 4(a)(1).

Data interference: Sec 4(a)(3) – Valid

(3) Data Interference. - The intentional or reckless alteration, damaging, deletion or deterioration of computer data,
electronic document, or electronic data message, without right, including the introduction or transmission of viruses.

• Petitioners: provision suffers from overbreadth in that it intrudes into the area of protected speech and
expression which creates a chilling and deterrent effect on these guaranteed freedoms
• Overbreadth doctrine – a proper governmental purpose, constitutionally subject to state regulation, may not
be achieved by means that unnecessarily sweep its subject broadly, thereby invading the area of protected
freedoms
• SC: this provision does not encroach on these freedoms at all
o Simply punishes what is essentially a form of vandalism of computer data, electronic documents, or
electronic data messages
§ Vandalism – the act of wilfully destroying without right the things that belong to others
o There is no freedom to destroy other people’s computer systems and private documents
• It can be argued that all penal laws have a chilling effect, an in terrorem effect or the fear of possible
prosecution that hangs on the heads of citizens who are minded to step beyond the boundaries of what is
proper.
o But to prevent the State from legislating criminal laws because they instill such kind of fear is to
render the state powerless in addressing and penalizing socially harmful conduct.
• In this case, the supposed chilling effect that results in paralysis is an illusion since this provision clearly
describes the evil that it seeks to punish and creates no tendency to intimidate the free exercise of one’s
constitutional rights
o Besides, the overbreadth challenge places on petitioners the heavy burden of proving that under no
set of circumstances will Section 4(a)(3) be valid – they were not able to do this

Cyber-squatting: Sec. 4(a)(6) – Valid

(6) Cyber-squatting. - The acquisition of domain name over the internet in bad faith to profit, mislead, destroy the
reputation, and deprive others from registering the same, if such a domain name is:

(i) Similar, identical, or confusingly similar to an existing trademark registered with the appropriate
government agency at the time of the domain name registration;

(ii) Identical or in any way similar with the name of a person other than the registrant, in case of a personal
name; and

(iii) Acquired without right or with intellectual property interests in it.

• Petitioners: this violates the equal protection clause

o Not being narrowly tailored, it will cause a user using his real name to suffer the same fate as those
who use aliases or take the name of another in satire, parody, or any other literary device
§ Example: in the case of the name of the well-known philanthropist Julio Gandolfo, the law
would punish for cyber-squatting both the person who registers such name because he

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 claims it to be his pseudo-name and another who registers the name because it happens
to be his real name.
§ Law should distinguish between the former and the latter
• SC: there is no real difference between the two.
• The law is reasonable in penalizing him for acquiring the domain name in bad faith to profit, mislead, destroy
reputation, or deprive others who are not ill-motivated of the rightful opportunity of registering the same.

Identity Theft: Sec. 4(b)(3) – Valid

b) Computer-related Offenses:

(3) Computer-related Identity Theft. - The intentional acquisition, use, misuse, transfer, possession,
alteration, or deletion of identifying information belonging to another, whether natural or juridical, without
right: Provided: that if no damage has yet been caused, the penalty imposable shall be one (1) degree
lower.

• Petitioners: the provision violates the constitutional rights to due process and to privacy and correspondence,
and transgresses the freedom of the press.
• Re: the right to privacy
o Institutionalized in 1987 Constitution as a facet of the right to be protected by the guarantee against
unreasonable searches and seizures
o Court acknowledged its existence at early as 1968 in Morfe v. Mutuc
• Zones of privacy
o GR: Within these zones, any form of intrusion is impermissible
o XPN: when excused by law and in accordance with customary legal process.
• Two constitutional guarantees create the zones of privacy:
o Right against unreasonable searches and seizures (basis of right to be let alone)
o Right to privacy of communication and correspondence
• In assessing the challenge that the State has impermissibly intruded into these zones of privacy, a court must
determine whether a person has exhibited a reasonable expectation of privacy and, if so, whether that
expectation has been violated by unreasonable government intrusion.
• The usual identifying information regarding a person includes his name, his citizenship, his residence address,
his contact number, his place and date of birth, the name of his spouse if any, his occupation, and similar data.
o The law punishes those who acquire or use such identifying information without right, implicitly to
cause damage.
o Petitioners simply fail to show how government effort to curb computer-related identity theft violates
the right to privacy and correspondence as well as the right to due process of law
o Also, the charge of invalidity of this section based on the overbreadth doctrine will not hold water
since the specific conducts proscribed do not intrude into guaranteed freedoms like speech.

Cybersex: Sec. 4(c)(1) – Valid

(c) Content-related Offenses:

(1) Cybersex.- The willful engagement, maintenance, control, or operation, directly or indirectly, of any
lascivious exhibition of sexual organs or sexual activity, with the aid of a computer system, for favor or
consideration.

• Petitioners: violates freedom of expression

o private communications of sexual character between husband and wife or consenting adults, which
are not regarded as crimes under the penal code, would now be regarded as crimes when done “for
favor” in cyberspace.
o Since term “favor” includes “gracious kindness” in the the common sense, the term “favor”
encompasses socially tolerated trysts
• SC: the deliberations of the Bicameral Committee of Congress on this section of the Cybercrime Prevention
Act give a proper perspective on the issue.
o These deliberations show a lack of intent to penalize this consensual, private showing

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 o The understanding of those who drew up the cybercrime law is that the element of “engaging in a
business” is necessary to constitute the illegal cybersex
o The Act actually seeks to punish cyber prostitution, white slave trade, and pornography for favor and
consideration.

Child Pornography: Sec. 4(c)(2) – Valid

(2) Child Pornography. — The unlawful or prohibited acts defined and punishable by Republic Act No. 9775 or the
Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009, committed through a computer system: Provided, That the penalty to be
imposed shall be (1) one degree higher than that provided for in Republic Act No. 9775.

• Merely expands scope of the existing Anti-Child Pornography Act to cover identical activities in cyberspace
• Of course, the law makes the penalty higher by one degree when the crime is committed in cyberspace. But
no one can complain since the intensity or duration of penalty is a legislative prerogative and there is rational
basis for such higher penalty.
• Petitioners: provision of ACPA that makes it unlawful for any person to “produce, direct, manufacture or create
any form of child pornography” clearly relates to the prosecution of persons who aid and abet the core offenses
that ACPA seeks to punish.
o wary that a person who merely doodles on paper and imagines a sexual abuse of a 16-year-old is
not criminally liable for producing child pornography but one who formulates the idea on his laptop
would be.
o if the author bounces off his ideas on Twitter, anyone who replies to the tweet could be considered
aiding and abetting a cybercrime. (aiding and abetting discussed later)

Unsolicited Commercial Communications: Sec. 4(c)(3) – Unconstitutional

(3) Unsolicited Commercial Communications. - The transmission of commercial electronic communication with the
use of computer system which seeks to advertise, sell, or offer for sale products and services are prohibited unless:

(i) There is prior affirmative consent from the recipient; or

(ii) The primary intent of the communication is for service and/or administrative announcements from the
sender to its existing users, subscribers or customers; or

(iii) The following conditions are present:

(aa) The commercial electronic communication contains a simple, valid, and reliable way for the
recipient to reject receipt of further commercial electronic messages (opt-out) from the same
source;

(bb) The commercial electronic communication does not purposely disguise the source of the
electronic message; and

(cc) The commercial electronic communication does not purposely include misleading information
in any part of the message in order to induce the recipients to read the message.

• Above penalized spam, according to the Government:

o Are a nuisance and waste of storage and network space
o Transmitting spams amounts to trespass to one’s privacy since the person sending out spams enters
the recipient’s domain without prior permission.
o commercial speech enjoys less protection in law.
• SC: Provision unconstitutional
o Government has no basis for saying that unsolicited electronic ads reduce computer efficiency
o people, before the arrival of the age of computers, have already been receiving such unsolicited ads
by mail – these were never outlawed
o What matters is that the recipient has the option of opening or reading these mail ads (which spam
allows anyway)

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 • Unsolicited advertisements are legitimate form of expression
o To prohibit the transmission of unsolicited ads would deny a person the right to read his emails, even
unsolicited commercial ads addressed to him.
o Commercial speech is a separate category of speech which is not accorded the same level of
protection as that given to other constitutionally guaranteed forms of expression but is nonetheless
entitled to protection.
o The State cannot rob him of this right without violating the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of
expression.

Libel: Sec 4(c)(4) and under the RPC – Valid

RPC

Art. 353. Definition of libel. — A libel is public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or
imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or
contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead.

Art. 354. Requirement for publicity. — Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if
no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown, except in the following cases:

1. A private communication made by any person to another in the performance of any legal, moral or social
duty; and

2. A fair and true report, made in good faith, without any comments or remarks, of any judicial, legislative
or other official proceedings which are not of confidential nature, or of any statement, report or speech
delivered in said proceedings, or of any other act performed by public officers in the exercise of their
functions.

Art. 355. Libel means by writings or similar means. — A libel committed by means of writing, printing, lithography,
engraving, radio, phonograph, painting, theatrical exhibition, cinematographic exhibition, or any similar means, shall
be punished by prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods or a fine ranging from 200 to 6,000 pesos,
or both, in addition to the civil action which may be brought by the offended party.

• In the Cybercrime law, the RPC provisions are merely incorporated

Cybercrime

(4) Libel. — The unlawful or prohibited acts of libel as defined in Article 355 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended,
committed through a computer system or any other similar means which may be devised in the future.

• Petitioners: two provisions on libel carry with them requirement of “presumed malice” even when jurisprudence
has already replaced this with the standard of “actual malice” (cite the case of Fermin)
o inferring “presumed malice” from the accused’s defamatory statement by virtue of Article 354 of the
penal code infringes on his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression
o They even go further and contend that libel laws should should be stricken down as unconstitutional
• Actual Malice – offender makes the defamatory statement with the knowledge that it is false or with reckless
disregard of whether it was false or not
o There must be sufficient evidence to permit the conclusion that the accused in fact entertained
serious doubts as to the truth of the statement he published.
o prosecution bears the burden of proving the presence of actual malice in instances where such
element is required to establish guilt.
• the Court cannot accept the proposition that its ruling in Fermin disregarded the higher standard of actual
malice or malice in fact when it found Cristinelli Fermin guilty of committing libel against complainants who
were public figures.
• And besides, actual malice only applies to libel where the offended party is a public person
o The law explicitly presumes its existence (malice in law) from the defamatory character of the
assailed statement when the victim of libel is a private person

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 • Petitioners: both the penal code and the Cybercrime Prevention Act violate the country’s obligations under
the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
o But General Comment 34 does not say that the truth of the defamatory statement should constitute
an all-encompassing defense.
o the UNHRC did not actually enjoin the Philippines, as petitioners urge, to decriminalize libel. It simply
suggested that defamation laws be crafted with care to ensure that they do not stifle freedom of
expression.

MR
• Petitioners: effectively trample on right to free expression
• But libel is not protected speech

Aiding and Abetting: Sec 5. – UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Sec. 5. Other Offenses. — The following acts shall also constitute an offense:

(a) Aiding or Abetting in the Commission of Cybercrime. - Any person who willfully abets or aids in the
commission of any of the offenses enumerated in this Act shall be held liable.

(b) Attempt in the Commission of Cybercrime. — Any person who willfully attempts to commit any of the
offenses enumerated in this Act shall be held liable.

• Petitioners: Suffers from overbreadth. Creates chilling effect.

• Aiding and abetting is well-defined in existing law but these meanings don’t necessarily apply in cybercrimes
(with likes, retweets, reposts, and shares)
• Question: are online postings such as “Liking” an openly defamatory statement, “Commenting” on it, or
“Sharing” it with others, to be regarded as “aiding or abetting?”
o Except for the original author of the assailed statement, the rest (those who pressed Like, Comment
and Share) are essentially knee-jerk sentiments of readers who may think little or haphazardly of
their response to the original posting.
• The old parameters for enforcing the traditional form of libel would be a square peg in a round hole when
applied to cyberspace libel.
o Unless the legislature crafts a cyber libel law that takes into account its unique circumstances and
culture, such law will tend to create a chilling effect on the millions that use this new medium of
communication in violation of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of expression.
• US case Reno v. ACL regarding the constitutionality of the Communications Decency Act
o Struck down as unconstitutional since it burdened free speech
• When a penal statute encroaches upon the freedom of speech, a facial challenge grounded on the void-for-
vagueness doctrine is acceptable.
• The provision is unconstitutional. I
o ts vagueness raises apprehension on the part of internet users because of its obvious chilling effect
on the freedom of expression, especially since the crime of aiding or abetting ensnares all the actors
in the cyberspace front in a fuzzy way.

Penalty of One Degree higher: Sec. 6 – Valid

Sec. 6. All crimes defined and penalized by the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and special laws, if committed
by, through and with the use of information and communications technologies shall be covered by the relevant
provisions of this Act: Provided, That the penalty to be imposed shall be one (1) degree higher than that provided for
by the Revised Penal Code, as amended, and special laws, as the case may be.

• Merely makes commission of existing crimes through the internet a qualifying circumstance
• there exists a substantial distinction between crimes committed through the use of information and
communications technology and similar crimes committed using other means
o On the internet, the offender evades identification

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In the MR:
• Petitioner bloggers insist that Section 6 cannot stand in the absence of a definition of the term "information
and communication technology"
• But basic stat con: you don’t read statutes in isolation from one another.
o Parameters of ICT exist in many other laws

Prosecution under both the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and R.A. 10175: Sec. 7 – Valid

Sec. 7. Liability under Other Laws. — A prosecution under this Act shall be without prejudice to any liability for
violation of any provision of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, or special laws.

• Merely expresses the settled doctrine that a single set of acts may be prosecuted and penalized
simultaneously under two laws, a special law and the Revised Penal Code.

Penalties: Sec. 8 – Valid

Sec. 8. Penalties. — Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Sections 4(a) and 4(b) of
this Act shall be punished with imprisonment of prision mayor or a fine of at least Two hundred thousand pesos
(PhP200,000.00) up to a maximum amount commensurate to the damage incurred or both.

Any person found guilty of the punishable act under Section 4(a)(5) shall be punished with imprisonment of prision
mayor or a fine of not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (PhP500,000.00) or both.

If punishable acts in Section 4(a) are committed against critical infrastructure, the penalty of reclusion temporal or a
fine of at least Five hundred thousand pesos (PhP500,000.00) up to maximum amount commensurate to the damage
incurred or both, shall be imposed.

Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Section 4(c)(1) of this Act shall be punished
with imprisonment of prision mayor or a fine of at least Two hundred thousand pesos (PhP200,000.00) but not
exceeding One million pesos (PhP1,000,000.00) or both.

Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Section 4(c)(2) of this Act shall be punished
with the penalties as enumerated in Republic Act No. 9775 or the “Anti-Child Pornography Act of 2009:” Provided,
That the penalty to be imposed shall be one (1) degree higher than that provided for in Republic Act No. 9775, if
committed through a computer system.

Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Section 4(c)(3) shall be punished with
imprisonment of arresto mayor or a fine of at least Fifty thousand pesos (PhP50,000.00) but not exceeding Two
hundred fifty thousand pesos (PhP250,000.00) or both.

• The matter of fixing penalties for the commission of crimes is as a rule a legislative prerogative.
• The power to determine penalties for offenses is not diluted or improperly wielded simply because at some
prior time the act or omission was but an element of another offense or might just have been connected with
another crime.

Real-time collection of traffic data: Sec 12 – UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Sec. 12. Real-Time Collection of Traffic Data. — Law enforcement authorities, with due cause, shall be authorized
to collect or record by technical or electronic means traffic data in real-time associated with specified communications
transmitted by means of a computer system.

Traffic data refer only to the communication’s origin, destination, route, time, date, size, duration, or type of underlying
service, but not content, nor identities.

All other data to be collected or seized or disclosed will require a court warrant.

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 Service providers are required to cooperate and assist law enforcement authorities in the collection or recording of
the above-stated information.

The court warrant required under this section shall only be issued or granted upon written application and the
examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and the witnesses he may produce and the showing: (1) that
there are reasonable grounds to believe that any of the crimes enumerated hereinabove has been committed, or is
being committed, or is about to be committed; (2) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that evidence that
will be obtained is essential to the conviction of any person for, or to the solution of, or to the prevention of, any such
crimes; and (3) that there are no other means readily available for obtaining such evidence.

• Petitioners: assail the grant to law enforcement agencies of the power to collect or record traffic data in real
time as tending to curtail civil liberties or provide opportunities for official abuse.
o invoke the right of every individual to privacy and to be protected from government snooping into the
messages or information that they send to one another.
• Does Sec 12 have a proper governmental purpose/serve compelling state interest? – YES
o the State has a compelling interest in enacting the cybercrime law for there is a need to put order to
the tremendous activities in cyberspace for public good.
o To do this, it is within the realm of reason that the government should be able to monitor traffic data
to enhance its ability to combat all sorts of cybercrimes.
• Petitioner: provision invalid for violation of right to privacy
• Two aspects of privacy:
o Decisional privacy – right to independence in making certain important decisions
o Informational privacy – interest in avoiding disclosure of personal matters
§ This is kind of importance to this case
• Two aspects of informational privacy:
o right not to have private information disclosed
o right to live freely without surveillance and intrusion
• To determine whether or not a matter is entitled to privacy, there is the two-fold test:
o Subjective test: one claiming the right must have an actual or legitimate expectation of privacy over
a certain matter
o Objective test: where his or her expectation of privacy must be one society is prepared to accept as
objectively reasonable
• While computer data constitutes seemingly unconnected traffic data (ex. In messages, only the coded IP
address of the sender and the recipient is disclosed), these data, when put together, can reveal patterns of
activities which can then be used to create profiles of the persons under surveillance.
• Sec 12 gives law enforcement too much power and too little restraint in the exercise of this power.
o Admittedly, nothing can prevent law enforcement agencies holding these data in their hands from
looking into the identity of their sender or receiver and what the data contains.
• Void for vagueness doctrine and overbreadth doctrine not applied since these only apply to free speech cases.

Preservation of Computer Data: Sec. 13 – Valid

Sec. 13. Preservation of Computer Data. — The integrity of traffic data and subscriber information relating to
communication services provided by a service provider shall be preserved for a minimum period of six (6) months
from the date of the transaction. Content data shall be similarly preserved for six (6) months from the date of receipt
of the order from law enforcement authorities requiring its preservation.

Law enforcement authorities may order a one-time extension for another six (6) months: Provided, That once
computer data preserved, transmitted or stored by a service provider is used as evidence in a case, the mere
furnishing to such service provider of the transmittal document to the Office of the Prosecutor shall be deemed a
notification to preserve the computer data until the termination of the case.

The service provider ordered to preserve computer data shall keep confidential the order and its compliance.

• Petitioners: this amounts to undue deprivation of property

• No doubt, the contents of materials sent or received through the internet belong to their authors or recipients
and are to be considered private communications.

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 o But it is not clear that a service provider has an obligation to indefinitely keep a copy of the same as
they pass its system for the benefit of users.
o By virtue of Section 13, however, the law now requires service providers to keep traffic data and
subscriber information relating to communication services for at least six months from the date of the
transaction and those relating to content data for at least six months from receipt of the order for their
preservation.
• In any case, the user ought to have kept a copy of that data when it crossed his computer if he was so minded.
o The service provider has never assumed responsibility for their loss or deletion while in its keep.
• The process of preserving data will not unduly hamper the normal transmission or use of the same.

Disclosure of Computer Data: Sec. 14 – Valid

Sec. 14. Disclosure of Computer Data. — Law enforcement authorities, upon securing a court warrant, shall issue
an order requiring any person or service provider to disclose or submit subscriber’s information, traffic data or
relevant data in his/its possession or control within seventy-two (72) hours from receipt of the order in relation to a
valid complaint officially docketed and assigned for investigation and the disclosure is necessary and relevant for the
purpose of investigation.

• So basically, like a subpoena

• Petitioners: the issuance of subpoenas is a judicial function. But it is well-settled that the power to issue
subpoenas is not exclusively a judicial function
• This is merely the enforcement of a duly issued court warrant, a function usually lodged in the hands of law
enforcers to enable them to carry out their executive functions.
o The prescribed procedure for disclosure would not constitute an unlawful search or seizure nor would
it violate the privacy of communications and correspondence.
o Disclosure can be made only after judicial intervention.

Search, Seizure, and Examinatino of Computer Data: Sec. 15 – Valid

Sec. 15. Search, Seizure and Examination of Computer Data. — Where a search and seizure warrant is properly
issued, the law enforcement authorities shall likewise have the following powers and duties.

Within the time period specified in the warrant, to conduct interception, as defined in this Act, and:

(a) To secure a computer system or a computer data storage medium;

(b) To make and retain a copy of those computer data secured;

(c) To maintain the integrity of the relevant stored computer data;

(d) To conduct forensic analysis or examination of the computer data storage medium; and

(e) To render inaccessible or remove those computer data in the accessed computer or computer and
communications network.

Pursuant thereof, the law enforcement authorities may order any person who has knowledge about the functioning
of the computer system and the measures to protect and preserve the computer data therein to provide, as is
reasonable, the necessary information, to enable the undertaking of the search, seizure and examination.

Law enforcement authorities may request for an extension of time to complete the examination of the computer data
storage medium and to make a return thereon but in no case for a period longer than thirty (30) days from date of
approval by the court.

• This merely enumerates the duties of law enforcement authorities that would ensure the proper collection,
preservation, and use of computer system or data that have been seized by virtue of a court warrant.
o The exercise of these duties do not pose any threat on the rights of the person from whom they were
taken.

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 o Section 15 does not appear to supersede existing search and seizure rules but merely supplements
them.

Destruction of Computer Data: Sec 17 – Valid

Sec. 17. Destruction of Computer Data. — Upon expiration of the periods as provided in Sections 13 and 15, service
providers and law enforcement authorities, as the case may be, shall immediately and completely destroy the
computer data subject of a preservation and examination.

• Petitioners: such destruction of computer data subject of previous preservation or examination violates the
user’s right against deprivation of property without due process of law.
• BUT: it is unclear that the user has a demandable right to require the service provider to have that copy of
the data saved indefinitely for him in its storage system. If he wanted them preserved, he should have saved
them

Restricting or Blocking Access to Computer Data: Sec. 19 – UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Sec. 19. Restricting or Blocking Access to Computer Data.— When a computer data is prima facie found to be in
violation of the provisions of this Act, the DOJ shall issue an order to restrict or block access to such computer data.

• Petitioners: stifles freedom of expression and violates the right against unreasonable searches and seizures
o OSG concedes
• The content of the computer data can also constitute speech. In such a case, Section 19 operates as a
restriction on the freedom of expression over cyberspace. Certainly not all forms of speech are protected.
• Legislature may, within constitutional bounds, declare certain kinds of expression as illegal.
o But for an executive officer to seize content alleged to be unprotected without any judicial warrant, it
is not enough for him to be of the opinion that such content violates some law, for to do so would
make him judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one.
• it also disregards jurisprudential guidelines established to determine the validity of restrictions on speech.

Obstruction of Justice: Sec. 20 – Valid

Sec. 20. Noncompliance. — Failure to comply with the provisions of Chapter IV hereof specifically the orders from
law enforcement authorities shall be punished as a violation of Presidential Decree No. 1829 with imprisonment of
prision correctional in its maximum period or a fine of One hundred thousand pesos (Php100,000.00) or both, for
each and every noncompliance with an order issued by law enforcement authorities.

• Petitioner: this is a bill of attainder

o the mere failure to comply constitutes a legislative finding of guilt, without regard to situations where
non-compliance would be reasonable or valid.
• But since the non-compliance would be punished as a violation of Presidential Decree (P.D.) 1829, Section
20 necessarily incorporates elements of the offense which are defined therein.
o If Congress had intended for Section 20 to constitute an offense in and of itself, it would not have
had to make reference to any other statute or provision.

(Main issue) CICC’s Powers and functions: Sec. 24 and 26(a) – Valid

Sec. 24. Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center.- There is hereby created, within thirty (30) days from
the effectivity of this Act, an inter-agency body to be known as the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center
(CICC), under the administrative supervision of the Office of the President, for policy coordination among concerned
agencies and for the formulation and enforcement of the national cybersecurity plan.

Sec. 26. Powers and Functions.- The CICC shall have the following powers and functions:

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 (a) To formulate a national cybersecurity plan and extend immediate assistance of real time commission of
cybercrime offenses through a computer emergency response team (CERT)

• Petitioners: Congress invalidly delegated its power when it gave the Cybercrime Investigation and
Coordinating Center (CICC) the power to formulate a national cybersecurity plan without any sufficient
standards or parameters for it to follow.
• How to determine undue delegation:
o Completeness test – law must be complete in all its terms and conditions when it leaves the
legislature such that when it reaches the delegate, the only thing he will have to do is to enforce it.
o Sufficient standard test – mandates adequate guidelines or limitations in the law to determine the
boundaries of the delegate’s authority and prevent the delegation from running riot.
• Here, the cybercrime law is complete in itself when it directed the CICC to formulate and implement a national
cybersecurity plan.
o Also, contrary to the position of the petitioners, the law gave sufficient standards for the CICC to
follow when it provided a definition of cybersecurity.

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