Republic Act No. 4200: Provided

June 19, 1965
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4200
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT AND PENALIZE WIRE TAPPING AND OTHER RELATED

VIOLATIONS OF THE PRIVACY OF COMMUNICATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any person, not being authorized by all the
parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by
using any other device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept, or record such
communication or spoken word by using a device commonly known as a dictaphone or
dictagraph or detectaphone or walkie-talkie or tape recorder, or however otherwise
described: cda
It shall also be unlawful for any person, be he a participant or not in the act or
acts penalized in the next preceding sentence, to knowingly possess any tape record,
wire record, disc record, or any other such record, or copies thereof, of any
communication or spoken word secured either before or after the effective date of this
Act in the manner prohibited by this law; or to replay the same for any other person or
persons; or to communicate the contents thereof, either verbally or in writing, or to
furnish transcriptions thereof, whether complete or partial, to any other person:
Provided, That the use of such record or any copies thereof as evidence in any civil,
criminal investigation or trial of offenses mentioned in section 3 hereof, shall not be
covered by this prohibition.
SECTION 2. Any person who wilfully or knowingly does or who shall aid,
permit, or cause to be done any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the preceding
section or who violates the provisions of the following section or of any order issued
thereunder, or aids, permits, or causes such violation shall, upon conviction thereof, be
punished by imprisonment for not less than six months or more than six years and with
the accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disquali cation from public o ce if the
offender be a public o cial at the time of the commission of the offense, and, if the
offender is an alien he shall be subject to deportation proceedings. acd
SECTION 3. Nothing contained in this Act, however, shall render it unlawful or

punishable for any peace o cer, who is authorized by a written order of the Court, to
execute any of the acts declared to be unlawful in the two preceding sections in cases
involving the crimes of treason, espionage, provoking war and disloyalty in case of war,
piracy, mutiny in the high seas, rebellion, conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion,
inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy to commit sedition, inciting to sedition,
kidnapping as de ned by the Revised Penal Code, and violations of Commonwealth Act
No. 616, punishing espionage and other offenses against national security: Provided,
That such written order shall only be issued or granted upon written application and the
examination under oath or a rmation of the applicant and the witnesses he may
produce and a showing: (1) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that any of the
crimes enumerated hereinabove has been committed or is being committed or is about
to be committed: Provided, however, That in cases involving the offenses of rebellion,
conspiracy and proposal to commit rebellion, inciting to rebellion, sedition, conspiracy
to commit sedition, and inciting to sedition, such authority shall be granted only upon
prior proof that a rebellion or acts of sedition, as the case may be, have actually been or
are being committed; (2) that there are reasonable grounds to believe that evidence will
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be obtained essential to the conviction of any person for, or to the solution of, or to the
prevention of, any such crimes; and (3) that there are no other means readily available
for obtaining such evidence.
The order granted or issued shall specify: (1) the identity of the person or
persons whose communications, conversations, discussions, or spoken words are to
be overheard, intercepted, or recorded and, in the case of telegraphic or telephonic
communications, the telegraph line or the telephone number involved and its location;
(2) the identity of the peace o cer authorized to overhear, intercept, or record the
communications, conversations, discussions, or spoken words; (3) the offense or
offenses committed or sought to be prevented; and (4) the period of the authorization.
The authorization shall be effective for the period speci ed in the order which shall not
exceed sixty (60) days from the date of issuance of the order, unless extended or
renewed by the court upon being satis ed that such extension or renewal is in the
public interest. cd
All recordings made under court authorization shall, within forty-eight hours after
the expiration of the period xed in the order, be deposited with the court in a sealed
envelope or sealed package, and shall be accompanied by an a davit of the peace
o cer granted such authority stating the number of recordings made, the dates and
times covered by each recording, the number of tapes, discs, or records included in the
deposit, and certifying that no duplicates or copies of the whole or any part thereof
have been made, or if made, that all such duplicates or copies are included in the
envelope or package deposited with the court. The envelope or package so deposited
shall not be opened, or the recordings replayed, or used in evidence, or their contents
revealed, except upon order of the court, which shall not be granted except upon
motion, with due notice and opportunity to be heard to the person or persons whose
conversation or communications have been recorded.
The court referred to in this section shall be understood to mean the Court of
First Instance within whose territorial jurisdiction the acts for which authority is applied
for are to be executed.
SECTION 4. Any communication or spoken word, or the existence, contents,
substance, purport, effect, or meaning of the same or any part thereof, or any
information therein contained, obtained or secured by any person in violation of the
preceding sections of this Act shall not be admissible in evidence in any judicial, quasi-
judicial, legislative or administrative hearing or investigation.
SECTION 5. All laws inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed or accordingly amended. cda
SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 19, 1965
Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 62, No. 20, p. 3350 on May 16, 1966
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Republic Act No. 4200: Provided

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June 19, 1965

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4200

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT AND PENALIZE WIRE TAPPING AND OTHER RELATED

SECTION 3. Nothing contained in this Act, however, shall render it unlawful or

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

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