Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Living History

Taking of voyeuristic photos, videos sans consent is illegal – Supreme Court of PH

The Supreme Court of the Philippines affirmed the conviction of a man who secretly took naked videos of his nieces while in their bathroom. This ought to serve as warning including among LGBTQIA people capturing photos or videos of the private areas of persons sans their consent.

Photo by Noelle Otto from Pexels.com

Sending a message stressing the importance of privacy and protection from voyeurism, the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines affirmed the conviction of a man who secretly took naked videos of his nieces while in their bathroom.

In its decision in G.R. No. 261049 (XXX v. People), the Supreme Court’s Second Division denied the appeal of XXX and sentenced him to imprisonment and tasked him to pay a fine of PhP900,000 for violating Section 4(a) of Republic Act No. 9995 (Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009). The decision was penned by Associate Justice Mario V. Lopez.

In this case, XXX frequented the house of his nieces AAA, BBB, and CCC while supervising its renovation. But one day, while preparing to take a bath, AAA discovered that she was being filmed through a small hole in a soap box, with a cellular phone owned by XXX. After checking the phone’s contents, she saw several nude videos of herself, her sisters, and her cousin while they were taking a bath in that same bathroom.

After the incident was reported to the barangay, XXX was charged with violation of Republic Act No. 9995. He and was convicted by the Regional Trial Court (RTC), and though the Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, this prompted the SC appeal.

But as it denied the appeal, the SC stated that it found that all the elements of photo or video voyeurism under Section 4(a) of the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 to be present. Particularly:

  1. the accused takes a photo or video of the private area of a person such as the naked or undergarment-clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast;
  2. the photo or video was taken without the person’s consent; and
  3. the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

This ought to serve as warning including among LGBTQIA people capturing photos or videos of the private areas of persons sans their consent.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Like Us On Facebook

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

NEWSMAKERS

Among those born in the early 1980s to mid-1990s, often referred to as Millennials or Generation Y, 7.8% identified as homo- or bisexual in...

Travel

Harsh truth: More LGBTQIA Filipinos know their drag queen celebs, than those who know the history of Pride in the Philippines. Pinoys need to...

NEWSMAKERS

While advocating for consent and empowerment, some mothers admitted to discouraging certain clothing choices or closely monitoring their children's online activities to mitigate risks....

#KaraniwangLGBT

India-based drag artist Patruni never thought he'd be a father. But then he found love, and decided to raise a family. He now says:...

Advertisement