Dear PAO,
I have a girlfriend who likes to party with alcohol and some weed. We used to do those things a lot, and she would pass out from time to time. Last month, my girlfriend and I partied at my place, and she once again became unconscious in our spare bedroom. She was naked at the time, and I decided to record her loud snoring as a prank. I just kept her video on my phone and later forgot about it. I do not know what happened, but just yesterday, my girlfriend said that she had seen the video that I had taken and she was going to press charges against me. That cannot be true, right? Only I have access to that video, and she was asleep at the time.
Xerxes
Dear Xerxes,
Unfortunately, you may go to prison for what you did. You may have violated Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 9995 or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009.
Indeed, the Supreme Court, speaking through Associate Justice Mario Villamor Lopez, in the case of XXX261049 v. People of the Philippines (GR 261049, June 26, 2023), stated that recording a video of someone naked without consent violates RA 9995, as follows:
“xxx Section 4(a) of RA No. 9995 provides:
“SEC. 4. Prohibited Acts. — It is hereby prohibited and declared unlawful for any person:
“(a) To take photo or video coverage of a person or group of persons performing sexual act or any similar activity or to capture an image of the private area of a person/s such as the naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast without the consent of the person/s involved and under circumstances in which the person/s has/have a reasonable expectation of privacy[.] (Emphasis supplied)
“Parsed from this provision, ‘photo or video voyeurism’ is committed when:
“1. The accused takes a photo or video coverage of a person or group of persons performing sexual act or any similar activity or captures an image of the private area of a person or persons such as the naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks or female breast; 2. The photo or video was taken without the consent of the person/s involved; and 3. The photo or video was taken under circumstances in which the person/s has/have a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
In your situation, all the elements of the violation of Section 4 of RA 9995 are present, viz.: you took a video of your nude girlfriend when she was unconscious; she gave no consent to such recording; and she had reasonable expectation of privacy as she was in the bedroom. Yet you took a video of her naked body. As such, your act, although made as a prank, may constitute a crime.
We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.
Thank you for your continued trust and support.
Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net
