The Supreme Court reiterated that using online chat logs and videos as evidence does not violate the right to privacy if they are used to determine if a crime has been committed.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Mario Lopez, the SC’s Second Division ruled that Eul Vincent Rodriguez engaged in human trafficking using Facebook and other online platforms. He was convicted of qualified trafficking in persons under Republic Act (RA) 9208, or the Anti-Trafficking of Persons Act of 2003.
In 2013, the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force of Region 7 began investigating Rodriguez after receiving a tip from the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Police Officer 3 Jerry Gambi used a decoy account to communicate with Rodriguez across various online platforms, recording their correspondence.
In their initial interactions online, Rodriguez offered Gambi nude shows in exchange for money, including one involving Rodriguez’s minor cousins. Once the show started and was recorded, Gambi stopped the show.
They then set up an entrapment operation where Gambi told Rodriguez that a foreigner friend was staying at a certain hotel. Rodriguez offered to have a 14-year-old meet them at the hotel to do a live nude show.
During the entrapment operation, Rodriguez accepted marked money from the foreigner posing as “Kyle Edwards”, who was actually an undercover confidential informant of the Task Force, and then was arrested and charged.
A Regional Trial Court convicted Rodriguez, which was affirmed by the Court of Appeals.
In upholding Rodriguez’s conviction, the Supreme Court found that the videos and recordings of the chat logs of Rodriguez’s conversations with PO3 Gambi can be admitted as evidence, the SC Public Information Office said in a press release Dec. 3.
The SC rejected Rodriguez’s arguments that they were inadmissible for violating his privacy rights. “RA 10173, or the Data Privacy Act of 2012, allows the processing of sensitive personal information to determine a person’s criminal liability and to protect the rights and interests of persons in court proceedings.”
As the chat logs and videos presented by Rodriguez were submitted as evidence to assess his criminal liability for qualified trafficking, his right to privacy was not violated.
The SC stressed that the videos and chat logs were presented as evidence to show Rodriguez’s method of reaching out to foreigners through Skype or Facebook, and offering minors for sexual exploitation.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined P2 million, the SC PIO said. ||
