Philippine Supreme Court Upholds People’s Right to Be Left Alone

The Philippine Supreme Court has put into effect the Writ of Habeas Data, a new rule that gives protection to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty and security is threatened or violated by an unlawful act by a public official or private individual, engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence, yesterday.

According to the Philippine Supreme Court’s bulletin, “The writ in general is
designed to safeguard individual freedom from abuse in the information age by means of an individual complaint presented in a constitutional court. Specifically, it protects the image, privacy, honor, information, self-determination, and freedom of information of a person.” “This right is particularly crucial in disappearances driven by politics because they usually involve secret execution of detainees without any trial, followed by the concealment of the body with the purpose of erasing all material traces of the crime and securing impunity for the perpetrators.”, Chief Justice Puno said.Habeas data can be brought up by any citizen against any manual or automated data register to find out what information is held about his or her person. That person can then request the rectification or even the destruction of the personal data being held.This action was highly applauded by civil societies and by prominent law makers like Senator Francisco Pangilinan saying: “the writ of habeas data ensures and safeguards individuals that agents of the government will not pry upon their lawful and private concerns.”The move is in time for today, February 2, the Philippine Constitution Day.

Tags: Freedom, News, Philippines, Politics, Supreme Court