Lee v. Ilagan PDF

FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 203254. October 8, 2014.]
DR. JOY MARGATE LEE , petitioner, vs . P/SUPT. NERI A. ILAGAN ,

respondent.
DECISION
PERLAS-BERNABE , J : p
Before the Court is a petition for review on certiorari 1 assailing the Decision 2 dated
August 30, 2012 of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 224 (RTC) in SP No. 12-
71527, which extended the privilege of the writ of habeas data in favor of respondent
Police Superintendent Neri A. Ilagan (Ilagan).
The Facts
In his Petition for Issuance of the Writ of Habeas Data 3 dated June 22, 2012, Ilagan
alleged that he and petitioner Dr. Joy Margate Lee (Lee) were former common law
partners. Sometime in July 2011, he visited Lee at the latter's condominium, rested for a
while and thereafter, proceeded to his o ce. Upon arrival, Ilagan noticed that his digital
camera was missing. 4 On August 23, 2011, Lee confronted Ilagan at the latter's o ce
regarding a purported sex video (subject video) she discovered from the aforesaid camera
involving Ilagan and another woman. Ilagan denied the video and demanded Lee to return
the camera, but to no avail. 5 During the confrontation, Ilagan allegedly slammed Lee's
head against a wall inside his o ce and walked away. 6 Subsequently, Lee utilized the said
video as evidence in ling various complaints against Ilagan, namely: ( a) a criminal
complaint for violation of Republic Act No. 9262, 7 otherwise known as the "Anti-Violence
Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004," before the Office of the City Prosecutor of
Makati; and (b ) an administrative complaint for grave misconduct before the National
Police Commission (NAPOLCOM). 8 Ilagan claimed that Lee's acts of reproducing the
subject video and threatening to distribute the same to the upper echelons of the
NAPOLCOM and uploading it to the Internet violated not only his right to life, liberty,
security, and privacy but also that of the other woman, and thus, the issuance of a writ of
habeas data in his favor is warranted. 9
Finding the petition prima facie meritorious, the RTC issued a Writ of Habeas Data 10
dated June 25, 2012, directing Lee to appear before the court a quo, and to produce
Ilagan's digital camera, as well as the negative and/or original of the subject video and
copies thereof, and to le a veri ed written return within ve (5) working days from date of
receipt thereof.
In her Veri ed Return 1 1 dated July 2, 2012, Lee admitted that she indeed kept the
memory card of the digital camera and reproduced the aforesaid video but averred that
she only did so to utilize the same as evidence in the cases she led against Ilagan. She
also admitted that her relationship with Ilagan started sometime in 2003 and ended under
disturbing circumstances in August 2011, and that she only happened to discover the
subject video when Ilagan left his camera in her condominium. Accordingly, Lee contended
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that Ilagan's petition for the issuance of the writ of habeas data should be dismissed
because: (a) its ling was only aimed at suppressing the evidence against Ilagan in the
cases she led; and ( b ) she is not engaged in the gathering, collecting, or storing of data
regarding the person of Ilagan. 1 2 ASTcEa
The RTC Ruling

In a Decision 1 3 dated August 30, 2012, the RTC granted the privilege of the writ of
habeas data in Ilagan's favor, and accordingly, ordered the implementing o cer to turn-
over copies of the subject video to him, and enjoined Lee from further reproducing the
same. 1 4
The RTC did not give credence to Lee's defense that she is not engaged in the
gathering, collecting or storing of data regarding the person of Ilagan, nding that her acts
of reproducing the subject video and showing it to other people, i.e., the NAPOLCOM
o cers, violated the latter's right to privacy in life and caused him to suffer humiliation and
mental anguish. In this relation, the RTC opined that Lee's use of the subject video as
evidence in the various cases she led against Ilagan is not enough justi cation for its
reproduction. Nevertheless, the RTC clari ed that it is only ruling on the return of the
aforesaid video and not on its admissibility before other tribunals. 1 5
Dissatisfied, Lee filed this petition.
The Issue Before the Court
The essential issue for the Court's resolution is whether or not the RTC correctly
extended the privilege of the writ of habeas data in favor of Ilagan.
The Court's Ruling
The petition is meritorious.
A.M. No. 08-1-16-SC, or the Rule on the Writ of Habeas Data (Habeas Data Rule), was
conceived as a response, given the lack of effective and available remedies, to address the
extraordinary rise in the number of killings and enforced disappearances. 1 6 It was
conceptualized as a judicial remedy enforcing the right to privacy, most especially the
right to informational privacy of individuals, 1 7 which is de ned as "the right to control
the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of data about oneself." 1 8
As de ned in Section 1 of the Habeas Data Rule, the writ of habeas data now stands
as "a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security
is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public o cial or employee, or
of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or
information regarding the person, family, home, and correspondence of the
aggrieved party. " Thus, in order to support a petition for the issuance of such writ,
Section 6 of the Habeas Data Rule essentially requires that the petition su ciently alleges,
among others, "[t]he manner the right to privacy is violated or threatened and how
it affects the right to life, liberty or security of the aggrieved party. " In other
words, the petition must adequately show that there exists a nexus between the right
to privacy on the one hand, and the right to life, liberty or security on the other.
1 9 Corollarily, the allegations in the petition must be supported by substantial evidence
showing an actual or threatened violation of the right to privacy in life, liberty or security of
the victim. 2 0 In this relation, it bears pointing out that the writ of habeas data will not issue
to protect purely property or commercial concerns nor when the grounds invoked in
support of the petitions therefor are vague and doubtful. 2 1
In this case, the Court nds that Ilagan was not able to su ciently allege that his
right to privacy in life, liberty or security was or would be violated through the supposed
reproduction and threatened dissemination of the subject sex video. While Ilagan purports
a privacy interest in the suppression of this video — which he fears would somehow find its
way to Quiapo or be uploaded in the internet for public consumption — he failed to explain
the connection between such interest and any violation of his right to life, liberty or
security. Indeed, courts cannot speculate or contrive versions of possible transgressions.
As the rules and existing jurisprudence on the matter evoke, alleging and eventually proving
the nexus between one's privacy right to the cogent rights to life, liberty or security are
crucial in habeas data cases, so much so that a failure on either account certainly renders a
habeas data petition dismissible, as in this case.
In fact, even discounting the insu ciency of the allegations, the petition would
equally be dismissible due to the inadequacy of the evidence presented. As the records
show, all that Ilagan submitted in support of his petition was his sell-serving testimony
which hardly meets the substantial evidence requirement as prescribed by the Habeas
Data Rule. This is because nothing therein would indicate that Lee actually proceeded to
commit any overt act towards the end of violating Ilagan's right to privacy in life, liberty or
security. Nor would anything on record even lead a reasonable mind to conclude 22 that
Lee was going to use the subject video in order to achieve unlawful ends — say for
instance, to spread it to the public so as to ruin Ilagan's reputation. Contrastingly, Lee even
made it clear in her testimony that the only reason why she reproduced the subject video
was to legitimately utilize the same as evidence in the criminal and administrative cases
that she led against Ilagan. 23 Hence, due to the insu ciency of the allegations as well as
the glaring absence of substantial evidence, the Court nds it proper to reverse the RTC
Decision and dismiss the habeas data petition.
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Decision dated August 30, 2012 of the
Regional Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 224 in SP No. 12-71527 is hereby REVERSED
and SET ASIDE. Accordingly, the Petition for Issuance of the Writ of Habeas Data led by
respondent P/Supt. Neri A. Ilagan is DISMISSED for lack of merit.
SO ORDERED.
Sereno, Leonardo-de Castro, Bersamin and Perez, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1. Rollo, pp. 3-37.
2. Id. at 38-41. Penned by Presiding Judge Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon.

3. Records, Vol. I, pp. 6-11.
4. Id. at 7.
5. Id. at 7. See also rollo, p. 38.
6. See records, Vol. I, p. 26.

7. Entitled "AN ACT DEFINING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN, PROVIDING
FOR PROTECTIVE MEASURES FOR VICTIMS, PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFORE,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
8. Records, Vol. I, p. 7; rollo, p. 38.
9. Records, Vol. I, pp. 8-9; rollo, p. 38.

10. Records, Vol. I, p. 24; rollo, p. 50.
11. Records, Vol. I, pp. 26-29.

12. See id.; rollo, p. 38.
13. Rollo, pp. 38-41.

14. Id. at 41.
15. See id. at 40-41.
16. Manila Electric Company v. Lim, G.R. No. 184769, October 5, 2010, 632 SCRA 195, 202.
17. Roxas v. Macapagal-Arroyo, G.R. No. 189155, September 7, 2010, 630 SCRA 211, 239.
18. See footnote 62 of Ople v. Torres, 354 Phil. 948, 979 (1998), citing Hancock, G., "California's
Privacy Act: Controlling Government's Use of Information?" 32 Stanford Law Review No.
5, p. 1001 (May 1980).
19. Gamboa v. Chan, G.R. No. 193636, July 24, 2012, 677 SCRA 385, 400.
20. Roxas v. Macapagal-Arroyo, supra note 17, at 239-240.
21. See Manila Electric Company v. Lim, supra note 16, at 202-203, citing Castillo v. Cruz, G.R.
No. 182165, November 25, 2009, 605 SCRA 628, 636-637.
22. "Substantial evidence is defined as such amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable
mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. It is more than a mere scintilla
of evidence." (Miro v. Mendoza Vda. de Erederos, G.R. Nos. 172532 and 172544-45,
November 20, 2013, 710 SCRA 371, 388.)
23. See records, Vol. II, pp. 259-265 and 272-275.

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FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. 203254. October 8, 2014.]

DR. JOY MARGATE LEE , petitioner, vs . P/SUPT. NERI A. ILAGAN ,

The RTC Ruling

2. Id. at 38-41. Penned by Presiding Judge Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon.

6. See records, Vol. I, p. 26.

9. Records, Vol. I, pp. 8-9; rollo, p. 38.

11. Records, Vol. I, pp. 26-29.

13. Rollo, pp. 38-41.

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