SC denies Palawan claim to 40% of Malampaya funds
THE Supreme Court (SC) voted unanimously, 13-0, to reject a claim by Palawan province for 40% of the royalties of the Malampaya natural gas project, according to a Supreme Court source who asked not to be identified.
The source said that the court ruled that the Malampaya field was outside the province’s territory.
The ruling has yet to be officially released.
The case stemmed from a February 2009 petition which questioned the legality and constitutionality of Executive Order (EO) 683-issued by former President and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2007 ordering the release of half of the disputed 40% share of Palawan — claiming that it violates Republic Act No. 7169 or the Local Government Code of 1991 and the Constitution’s guarantee of equitable sharing of wealth.
The petitioners claimed that neither the governor, congressmen, nor the Puerto Princesa mayor is authorized to sign on behalf of the local government units (LGU) in the province as the EO directs the release of the shares to the province and congressional districts of Palawan as well as Puerto Princesa City.
They also argued that the provisional implementation agreement (PIA), which will authorize the release of the shares as stated in the EO, only discussed “net proceeds” but the law stated that the shares of LGUs should be based on “gross collection.”
They claimed that the local government code provides that any proceeds from national government income should be directly released to the LGUs.
The national government, through the Department of Energy, entered a service contract in 1990 with Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. and Occidental Philippines, Inc. for what was thought to be the largest single investment in the country.
The project is expected to raise $8 billion to $10 billion for the government.
The Malampaya gas field is around 80 kilometers from the Palawan coastal.
The Palawan government claims 40% of the proceeds of the project, citing the Local Government Code of 1991.
Ms. Arroyo in 2007 issued EO 683 which directed the release of half of the 40% of the funds to the province and congressional districts of Palawan and Puerto Princesa City through a PIA on condition that the funds are used immediately for development projects in Palawan.
The petitioners questioned the EO in the Court of Appeals but lost in 2008. They then elevated the case to the SC in the following year. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
Duterte: CoA must resolve project ‘gridlock’
PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte said the Commission on Audit (CoA) has been causing “gridlock” with the implementation of many key projects, and that he would like to speak with the independent commission’s chairman to get spending and investments flowing again.
“I have to talk to CoA… Either I go to his office or he comes to me here. There are so many things that we cannot understand,” the President said in his remarks during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Palace on Monday.
Mr. Duterte added that “there seems to be gridlock” in the implementation of government projects and even in the flow of investments into the country.
He added that an “improved economy” was his “dream” for the Filipino people. “That’s why I said I have to talk to so many people. CoA causes gridlock,” he said.
“The Philippines is known as a country which does not honor contractual obligations. And yet, CoA, if you are listening now, should be reasonable and sane enough to know that in our Constitution, impairment of the obligation of contracts is not allowed. So instead of rendering an opinion that blocks the project, why don’t you just invent (a solution) if you have to?” the President added.
He also said that the agency should find ways “to allow the investments” to move forward “because we need the money.”
Asked for comment during a briefing at the Palace on Tuesday, Palace Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said: “What he means by ‘invent’ is you try to evaluate whether or not your opposition or your auditing is within what the law prescribes. Because you may be misreading the provision of the law.”
As for the specific projects the President was referring to, he said: “I do not know what project he was referring to. What he is saying is that if it is against the interest of this country with respect to investments, then we need to do something about certain regulations that instead of helping, restrict and scare away investments.” — Arjay L. Balinbin
NFA incentive payment boosts procurement from domestic farmers
THE National Food Authority (NFA) said Tuesday that it procured 1,012,172 bags of palay from farmers in the first 11 months of the year, with purchasing boosted by incentives to farmers.
According to NFA, 92% of the procurement was carried out after the agency applied a P3 “buffer stocking incentive” (BSI) payment on top of the P17 per kilo buying price for palay.
“This means that given the right price, the NFA will be able to buy more from our farmers,” Tomas R. Escarez, NFA Officer-in-Charge and Deputy Administrator for Finance and Administration, said in a statement.
“With the additional P3/kg incentive, we were able to entice more farmers to sell their harvest to us. At a time when private traders were buying at P20.28, our farmers decided to sell to us instead,” Mr. Escarez added.
Under the proposed rice tariffication law, the private sector will be mainly in charge of rice importation, while the NFA will focus on buying domestic produce.
Senator Cynthia A. Villar, who chairs her chamber’s committee on food and agriculture, said that given the additional P3 incentive, the NFA should sell rice at P33 to achieve break even.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol has announced that private entities can start preparing for importation provided they have the requirements, without waiting for the rice tariffication bill to be passed.
Mr. Escarez said that consumers were able to save P6.22 billion from purchasing subsidized rice in the 11 months to November, after over 10.36 million bags of NFA rice were distributed in those months.
He said that a consumer saves P12 by buying NFA rice at P27 per kilo, compared with the suggested retail price (SRP) of P39 for the cheapest variety of imported well-milled rice.
Meanwhile, Mr. Piñol said that he is not certain about the future of the SRP regime for rice once the rice tariffication law takes effect.
Mr. Piñol told reporters: “We have instituted measures to ensure stable prices. Rice, for example. My worry with the implementation of the tariffication, bordering on liberalization, is what will happen to our SRP program.”
Mr. Piñol added: “Based on my understanding, the regulatory powers of NFA will be removed. I don’t know who will supervise the SRP program. I don’t know if there will still be P27 or P32 government-subsidized rice in the market. This is something I would have to clarify today.”
Mr. Piñol also said that he has instructed the NFA to investigate the proliferation of special rice, whose prices are less regulated.
“I asked NFA to check. Suddenly there is a lot of special rice in the market because the traders know it is not covered by SRP. We will check on this. I will ask our grains experts,” Mr. Piñol said.
Thirty companies have applied to import 274,476 metric tons (MT) of rice, as of Dec. 3, according to the NFA website. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
Finance dep’t to lobby Senate for P60 cigarette tax
THE DEPARTMENT of Finance (DoF) will push for its original version of a P60 per pack tobacco tax after the House of Representatives approved a lower rate.
“There’s still the Senate. We will try our best. This thing doesn’t end until the President signs it. We’re there, we’re keeping at it. We hope that they will come up to what is good for the country,” Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III said in a statement.
The House approved on final reading House Bill No. 8677, which proposes to increase the excise tax on tobacco products gradually by P2.50 per pack every year beginning at P37.50 in July 2019 to P45 in July 2022, and a 4% annual hike thereafter.
The bill passed with 187 affirmative votes, seven negative votes and one abstention.
The DoF wants to charge P60 per pack in 2019, with an annual increase of 9%, packaging the legislation as a health measure to deter cigarette consumption, with support from health advocates.
Excise taxes on tobacco are at P35 per pack as of July under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, from P30 per pack in January. The law will also raise tobacco taxes to P37.50 by 2020, and P40 per pack by 2022.
The DoF said that its measure is a stronger deterrent to smoking, especially among young people. The higher tax is also expected to help raise funds for Universal Health Care (UHC).
“Society has to agree what is more important: enough money for health care or favoring companies that produce products that damage health? That’s what society has to agree on, and that’s what the representatives in the legislature are supposed to reflect,” Mr. Dominguez said.
“Our revenues have to keep on going up because we are supporting a lot of people who are getting sick from smoking. That was all in the testimony. I was reading the summary of the testimonies, it’s overwhelmingly in favor of higher taxes for health reasons,” he added.
The Department of Health (DoH) hopes to reduce smoking prevalence from 22% in 2015 to 15% by 2022.
“Are we going to favor a few for the benefit of many? Again, it’s up to the legislature. We will continue our position, try to show the results why it is beneficial to have higher taxes.”
The DoF said that it has been collecting about P100 billion from tobacco taxes since the Sin Tax Reform law of 2012.
“Thus, amending the Sin Tax Reform Law to enable additional price increases on tobacco products is a win-win measure in terms of health, equity and revenues,” said Finance Assistant Secretary Antonio G. Lambino II in the same statement.
“One, it is an effective pricing strategy to reduce smoking; second, a healthier population leads to lower health care costs; and third, raising tobacco taxes generates substantial revenues for health care expenditures like universal health care, which benefits primarily the poorest of the poor,” he added.
The DoF also noted that cigarette tax increases do not adversely affect tobacco farmers but even benefits them.
“The decrease in the number of tobacco farmers, meanwhile, cannot be attributed to higher excise taxes, but to the introduction of other profitable farming opportunities available to them, such as shifting to high-value crops, which is also the intent of sin tax reform,” Mr. Lambino said.
“The welfare of tobacco farmers should be addressed through an expenditure policy, not through the tax structure. If, indeed farmers are at risk because of higher tobacco taxes, the Department of Agriculture, NTA (National Tobacco Administration) and the host LGUs (local government units) should have used the earmarked funds intended for tobacco farmers as provided in the law,” he added. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Bicam panel agrees to SALN or total assets option for tax amnesty legislation
THE bicameral conference committee reconciling the tax amnesty bills agreed to give taxpayers the option to submit either a statement of total assets or a statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN), along with a general tax amnesty return, when availing of the amnesty.
The committee had yet to approve the bill on Monday due to disagreement on the provisions covering the amnesty’s exemptions. A number of other provisions have been reconciled, such as the general tax amnesty requirements.
House Bill No. 8554 requires the submission of the statement of total assets when filing for a general tax amnesty, with amnesty payments set at 2% of assets, while Senate Bill No. 2059 requires a SALN, at a corresponding rate of 5% of net worth.
Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who chairs his chamber’s ways and means committee, said a compromise was reached among the House and Senate representatives to the bicameral conference committee to offer both requirements as options.
He said providing options for taxpayers will encourage more Filipinos to avail of the amnesty. He added that this mechanism would also increase collections for the government.
“Our theory is to make the amnesty as attractive as possible. We want the people to be encouraged to legitimize any transactions on any wealth that has been accrued. Many of these are not collected by the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) so it’s actually to clean up the system and also raise revenue for the government,” he told reporters.
“A successful amnesty is premised on the availment by the large majority of taxpayers. So the more attractive it is, providing an option will definitely make it more attractive,” he added.
If a taxpayer opts for the statement of total assets, the general amnesty tax rate will be 2% of his or her total assets as of Dec. 31, 2017. If the taxpayer provided a SALN, the rate will be 5% of his or her net worth as of the same date.
“That’s the compromise. We adopted both,” Mr. Angara said.
The tax amnesty bill provides taxpayers a one-time amnesty for estate taxes, unpaid general taxes and delinquencies. It forms part of the so-called Package 1B, consisting of provisions that had been stricken from Republic Act No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) law.
Aside from the provisions on the general tax amnesty documents, the House and Senate panels also agreed to include the Bureau of Customs (BoC) collections in the bill’s general tax amnesty coverage.
They also removed a provision from the House Bill which disqualifies the total assets option if assets are 30% or more understated.
The Senate contingent was composed of Mr. Angara, President Pro Tempore Ralph G. Recto, Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, and Senator Nancy S. Binay-Angeles. Meanwhile, the House contingent included ways and means committee chair Estrelita B. Suansing, Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo E. Cua, Iloilo Rep. Arthur R. Defensor, Jr., Deputy Speaker Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. Batangas Rep. Lianda B. Bonilla, and 1-PACMAN partylist Rep. Michael L. Romero. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
Subic Port November collections hit record
THE BUREAU of Customs (BoC) said the Port of Subic collected a record P2.347 billion in November, exceeding its target by 12.75%, and nearly doubling the year-earlier collections of P1.21 billion.
This was the third consecutive month that Subic beat its monthly revenue target, according to the BoC.
“Subic has been consistently hitting all-time highs since the assumption of young lawyer and district collector Ma. Rhea M. Gregorio,” the BoC said.
“Port of Subic remains committed in its drive to collect revenues and be vigilant in its efforts to prevent smuggling and the commission of fraudulent and illegal acts,” Ms. Gregorio was quoted as saying.
The BoC official attributed its performance to the assessment of proper taxes, higher tax rates due to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law, and a weaker peso.
Subic is a major entry point for oil imports. — Elijah Joseph C. Tubayan
Rural Internet penetration still lagging — SWS
INTERNET use in the Philippines remains highest in major cities, Social Weather Stations (SWS) said after its latest survey, setting a baseline profile for adoption of the technology prior to the entry of a new competitor in the telecommunications industry.
The survey, conducted in the third quarter, found that 54% of respondents lived in urban areas, up from 53% in the previous quarter. This included a 64% rate for Metro Manila residents. Rural penetration was 31%, up from 28% a quarter earlier.
The urban-rural split in Internet usage runs counter to the actual population split, which according to Trading Economics was just under 56% rural in 2016.
Trading Economics also estimated the Internet penetration rate nationwide at 55.5% in 2016.
The survey, conducted on Sept. 15-23, suggested however a lower overall penetration rate. SWS said 41% of its respondents use the Internet, up from 40% in the three months to June.
Out of the 1,500 adults surveyed, Internet usage was higher among women at 42%, down from 45% a quarter earlier. Meanwhile, some 40% of male respondents said they were Internet users, up from 36% in the June quarter.
SWS found that Internet usage is highest within the 18-24 age group, where penetration is 81%, followed by 25-34 at 65%, and 35-44 at 44%.
SWS also reported that Internet use was highest among university graduates at 73%, down from 78% three months earlier. The usage rate for those with a high school education was at 56%, up from 55% a quarter earlier. The usage rate for those with elementary-level educations was 26%, from 21% in the previous quarter.
The usage rate for the ABC income class was 55%, followed by class D at 43% and class E at 28%.
In balance Luzon — the geographical category that excludes Metro Manila — the usage rate was a record 47% in the three months to September from 42% in the three months to June.
However, usage rates in the Visayas declined sharply between quarters to 28% from a record 37% previously. Mindanao usage rates declined to 27% in the September quarter from 29% three months earlier.
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with respondents ages 18 years old and above nationwide. SWS used sampling error margins of plus or minus 3% for national percentages, plus or minus 4% for Balance Luzon, and plus or minus 6% for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
Sugar prices expected to ease in 2019 after Brazil effect fades
FITCH SOLUTIONS Macro Research said sugar prices are likely to ease in the coming weeks as the market remains well-supplied while factors that caused prices to rise in October have begun to fade.
It noted that the election of Jair Bolsonaro as president of Brazil in October led to a sudden increase in value of the real, causing sugar prices to rally. However, the Brazilian currency is also expected to depreciate in 2019.
Fitch said that sugar prices will rise to average 12.6 US cents per pound from 12.2 cents per lb in 2018. Global production will meanwhile decline for a second consecutive year, while the global market surplus will fall to 8 million metric tons (MT) in 2019 and 3 million MT in 2020.
However, Fitch said that despite decreased production and consumption growth in 2018 and 2019, large inventories built in 2017 and 2018 will continue to hang over the marker and prices will be kept contained in the absence of bad weather.
Asked for comment, Emiliano Bernardino L. Yulo, a member of the Sugar Regulatory Authority board, said in a mobile message: “Local producers hope that sugar prices albeit predicted to be weak as per Fitch research will be at a level which would afford farmers with a reasonable return.”
Fitch said that Asia will lead the world in sugar consumption growth. India, meanwhile, is expected to overtake Brazil as world’s largest sugar producer, according to the study.
SRA, has said that it seeks to implement a suggested retail price (SRP) on sugar of P50 per kilo, lower than the current P60 to P65 per kilo in the supermarkets.
Agriculture Emmanuel F. Piñol said that it is possible to implement an SRP on sugar, provided that it is not lower than domestic production costs.
“If you think the prices are high, there is that option to import,’ Mr. Piñol said.
“We need to reconcile the SRP with the production cost of our farmers because we cannot set up an SRP that is lower,” Mr. Piñol said. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
Senate starts plenary debate on budget
THE Senate on Tuesday started plenary discussions on the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget for 2019 with less than two weeks left before Congress goes on break on Dec. 14.
Senator Loren B. Legarda, chairman of the Senate committee on finance, sponsored Committee Report No. 538 with Senate amendments to the General Appropriations bill approved by the House of Representatives.
“Our Constitutionally-mandated task to ‘propose or concur with amendments’ to the national budget for fiscal year 2019 is almost complete and is now ready for plenary discussion, after holding 52 budget hearings, several briefings, and a comprehensive discussion with the agencies constituting the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) to thresh out the finer details of the 2019 national budget,” the senator said in her sponsorship speech.
Ms. Legarda said the highest allocation of the proposed budget is for social services at 36.7%, followed by economic services at 28.4%, general public services at 18.9%, debt burden at 11%, and defense at 5%.
Among the amendments of the Senate was the realignment of P20 billion within the unprogrammed fund to provide appropriations for rice and coconut farmers as prescribed in the coconut levy trust fund bill and the rice tariffication bill, which are up for the President’s signature.
Some P10 billion was allocated to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund to assist rice farmers, while the other P10 billion was directed to the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Fund, for use in the development of the coconut industry.
She said P43.3 billion of the budget will fund the free tuition program for state colleges, P30.7 billion to fund the Department of Education’s (DepEd)’s basic educational facilities (BEF) program, and P32.1 billion to fund the government assistance program for students in private schools.
Another P2.925 billion was allocated for university teachers’ salaries.
For health services, some P67.353 billion was allocated to the National Health Insurance Program and P2 billion to the Health Facilities Enhancement Fund.
Another big-ticket social services program was the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program with a budget allocation of P88.106 billion.
The economic services allocation includes P909.7 billion for the government’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ infrastructure program. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will also be also given P101.9 billion and P1.4 billion, respectively, for their Flood Management Program.
Another P507.8 million was earmarked for the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Shared Service Facilities program that will support micro, small and medium enterprises.
The Senate also backs the P172.4 billion allocation for the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the P177.7 billion for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
About P37.3 billion was allocated for the judiciary, P200 million of which will be used for the hiring of personnel to help decongest the courts.
Ms. Legarda also said a special provision was also inserted by the Senate requiring local government units to formulate local development plans as a way of strengthening the interdependence of the national government and the local government units.
The chamber also provided a provision on the ban on single-use plastics in all tourist destinations.
Following Ms. Legarda’s sponsorship, the Senate proceeded with its period of interpellation starting with the budget of the DTI. The chamber will also hold morning and afternoon sessions to deliberate on the budget until Dec. 11.
The Senate is targeting passage of the proposed budget on third and final reading on Dec. 11. The chamber also plans to hold the bicameral conference committee on Dec. 12 and ratify the budget on Dec. 13. Congress will then adjourn session on Dec. 14. — Camille A. Aguinaldo
The ASEAN Prosperity Initiative
“The rapid economic advance that we have come to expect seems in a large measure to be the result of this inequality and to be impossible without it. Progress at such a fast rate cannot proceed on a uniform front but must take place in echelon fashion, with some far ahead of the rest.”
— Friedrich Hayek,
The Constitution of Liberty (1960),
Chapter 3.
While many activists and central planners will disagree with the Nobel economist Hayek, this has been the inescapable reality – as prosperity expands, inequality among people also expands but the state of poverty significantly declines.
One measurement of economic prosperity is per capita income or GDP. Many economies in East Asia were able to double or triple the figure in just two decades. The Philippines’ income per head for instance has expanded from only $1,241 in 1997 to nearly $3,000 in 2017 (see table 1).
The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), a free market think tank in Malaysia, will launch the ASEAN Prosperity Initiative (API) next Tuesday, December 11, at Intercontinental Singapore. API predecessor is the Economic Freedom Network (EFN) South East Asia.
The API launching will coincide with the publication of two IDEAS reports: (1) ASEAN Economic Integration Report Card, comparing the targets set in the ASEAN Economic Community Blueprint 2025 and actual achievement; and (2) ASEAN-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA), studying the potentials and pitfalls of such big FTA.
One indicator for these two topics is the direction of trade – how much of ASEAN countries’ exports go to fellow members and the rest of Asia-Pacific, and how much of their imports come from the region (see table 2).
Many ASEAN countries are trading more with themselves and the rest of Asia-Pacific, reducing the share of trade with North America, Europe, Oceania, South America and Africa.
Another indicator of economic integration is the flow of foreign direct investments (FDI).
FDI inflows in Southeast Asia have more than doubled, but, more important, the FDI stock has expanded nearly 15 times over the past two decades (see table 3).
For the Philippines in particular, FDI inward stock was only $13.8 billion in 2000, rose to $25.9 billion in 2010 and $78.8 billion in 2017. Good expansion but still low compared to our neighbors in the ASEAN as of 2017: $130 billion in Vietnam, $140 billion in Malaysia, $219 billion in Thailand, $248 billion in Indonesia, and $1,285 billion in Singapore.
A day before the API launching, IDEAS will also organize a meeting among ASEAN think tanks on air transport liberalization. If this liberalization happens someday, investments and tourism in the region will further expand significantly.
More economic liberalization and deregulation, this should be the continuing policy of the Philippines and neighbors in the region.
Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers
minimalgovernment@gmail.com
The privacy of ‘Public’ information
In this age when everything is “instant,” information on just about anything and anyone under the sun is not only readily available, but easy to come by. Especially with the proliferation of social media sites and other publicly-accessible platforms and the increasing transparency of government databases most of which are accessible on-line, a few clicks of a mouse will yield a treasure trove of information. But along with this bounty comes the inevitable question of boundaries: What information should be made publicly available? Can we use it? How should we use it?
These questions are particularly relevant today, with the implementation of the Data Privacy Act (“DPA”) in the past few years. On its surface, the DPA is fairly easy to grasp and apply. The DPA is teeming with rules, requirements and restrictions on the use and processing of Personal Information. Significantly, the DPA declares that the consent of the individual, or data subject, is paramount and indispensable, before any processing or handling of his or her personal information may be performed. This places a considerable constraint and control on all types of human relations since the processing of personal information is a necessary activity in all aspects of such relations — be they private or public. Ultimately, the DPA aims to empower data subjects to control when, how, and for what purpose their personal information may be processed.
However, the lines of when and how the DPA may be applied appears to be blurred when applied to “publicly-accessible” personal information. For when information has been disseminated to the public, how can it be considered private? How can public information be private? Verily, the definition of Personal Information under the DPA provides little (if not no) aid in determining such boundaries. The DPA defines Personal Information as “any information whether recorded in a material form or not, from which the identity of an individual is apparent or can be reasonably and directly ascertained by the entity holding the information, or when put together with other information would directly and certainly identify an individual” (Section 3 g). There is no mention in both the law and rules and regulations of the source of the information that constitutes Personal Information.
In addressing this seemingly grey area of the DPA’s applicability, the National Privacy Commission (“NPC”) has declared in several Advisory Opinions that the DPA has specified the information which is outside of its scope but only to the minimum extent necessary to achieve the specific purpose, function, or activity in Section 4 thereof and there is no express mention that personal data which is available publicly is outside of its scope. Thus, the provisions of the DPA are still applicable even for those personal data which are available in the public domain. The NPC echoes the sentiment of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong in saying that even if the data subject has provided his or her personal data in a publicly accessible platform, this does not mean he or she has given blanket consent for the use of his/her personal data for whatever purposes (Guidance Note — Guidance on Use of Personal Data Obtained from the Public Domain, August 2013).
Another implication of the NPC’s declaration is that personal information obtained from public documents may not be processed by third parties for purposes other than which such personal information was provided. Thus, third parties may no longer process or use personal information obtained from documents submitted to government regulatory agencies unless with the consent of the data subject/s.
This nuance is also especially crucial in contracts with business partners and third party service providers involving the processing of personal information, including the outsourcing of the processing of personal information. In addition to the mandatory stipulations required to be incorporated in such outsourcing contracts under the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the DPA, personal information controllers must also be careful in indicating in such contracts how personal information obtained from other sources other than the data subject are to be treated. While it has become increasingly common in such contracts to provide for separate provisions specifically dealing with personal information, in most instances, personal information are lumped together in the greater group of information under “Confidential Information.” In such instances, Information that is in, or subsequently enters, the public domain are often considered excluded from the definition of Confidential Information. Applying the NPC’s position on personal information found in and made available via publicly-accessible platforms, in cases where personal information are included in what are considered Confidential Information, there arises a need to carve out personal information from the exclusion.
The NPC’s position also behooves individuals and legal entities from using and relying on information obtained from social media platforms, such as Facebook. While these information were shared on the platform with the intention of making them public, this fact alone does not automatically constitute consent for other uses of the information. Consequently, social media policies have become increasingly important in companies and organizations.
Thus, while personal information from publicly-accessible platform is not particularly provided for in the DPA, the NPC’s opinion has shed light on the issue and confirms that the protection attaches to the underlying right to privacy and not actually to the pieces of personal information. Certainly, this means that some things that have been made public are still private.
This article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not offered as and does not constitute legal advice or legal opinion.
Maria Isabel M. Llave is a Senior Associate of the Intellectual Property Department of the Angara Abello Concepcion Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALAW).
830-8000
mmllave@accralaw.com.