Dear Atty. Chris,

Atty., I recently had a dispute with my friend and we might have said foul words against each other. Our friend group decided to hold a meeting one night to address the issue. Instead of fixing it, it got worse because I learned that she recorded our conversation and shared it with other friends.

Can I file a complaint? What should I do? Thank you, Attorney.

Pauline

Dear Pauline,

From what it looks like, it seems like your friend has violated the Republic Act (RA) 4200 or An Act to Prohibit and Penalize Wire Tapping and Other Related Violations of the Privacy of Communication and for Other Purposes.

RA 4200 protects private communication by punishing illegally recorded conversations — without the consent of the parties involved in the communication. The privacy of communication shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise. (Article III, Sec. 3, the 1987 Philippine Constitution)

RA 4200 states that:

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 dictagraph, walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise described. (Sect 1)

Moreover, since it is unlawful to possess the recording, it is also unlawful to replay, communicate the contents either verbally or in writing, make duplicate copies, or to furnish transcriptions whether complete or partial, to any other person.

All things considered, your friend has violated RA 4200 and you may rightfully file a criminal case against her.

We hope this helps.

Atty. Chris