Lacson counters DOJ chief on wiretapped info

Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER.NET PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA

Sen. Panfilo Lacson on Friday twitted Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra for claiming that Philippine courts could admit as evidence intercepted phone calls shared to local authorities by foreign countries that allowed wiretapping.

“Mr. Secretary, possession of wiretapped material is also an offense,” Lacson said in reaction to Guevarra’s statement.

He reiterated that Republic Act No. 4200, or the Anti-Wiretapping Law, explicitly barred anyone from surreptitiously recording “private communication or spoken word” without the consent of the parties involved.

The senator issued the reaction after Guevarra defended presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, who earlier claimed that President Duterte’s list of narcopoliticians was based on wiretapped information provided by the United States, Israel, Russia and China.