By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
MANILA – The Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Thursday said it is investigating the head of its Special Operations Group – Task Force for Road Clearing (SOG-TFRC) over the traffic apprehension of a teacher that went viral on social media.
In a statement, MMDA said SOG-TFRC head Gabriel Go has been pulled out from participating in clearing operations while he is being investigated for any administrative liabilities.
“Rest assured that we are conducting an investigation as to Mr. Go’s liability, and he was asked to explain his side in formal writing through a show cause order,” it said.
It noted that the incident was brought to their attention through the video posted on Go’s Facebook page and through letters sent by various groups.
Data privacy, legal concerns
Meanwhile, a legal expert said that while Go’s act of filming the teacher in a public place does not violate the Data Privacy Act (DPA), uploading the video is a separate matter governed by a different set of rules.
In a radio interview, data privacy lawyer Enrique Dela Cruz Jr. explained that filming a person in a public place is generally exempt from DPA protection since there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in such spaces.
“Sila ay nasa pampublikong lugar, ibig sabihin, exempt yun sa proteksyon ng DPA because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy (They are in a public place; they are exempt from the protection of the DPA because there is no reasonable expectation of privacy),” he said.
However, he said uploading the video is a different act entirely and requires the consent of the person being filmed, with some exceptions, such as when the person is anonymized.
He noted that since the teacher’s face was blurred in the video Go posted, the data subject is not identifiable, which means there is likely no violation of either the DPA or cyberlibel under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
However, he said Go may face administrative liability for how he conducted the apprehension.
“Tama na manghuli ka, pero kung inabuso mo ang iyong kapangyarihan, sa pamamaraan ng panghuhuli, hindi ka makukulong pero maaari kang masuspinde. Maaari kang matanggal sa tungkulin (It is only right for you to apprehend, but if you abuse your authority during apprehensions, you won’t be criminally liable, but you may be suspended or removed from office),” he said.
He added that the threshold for administrative liability is lower than that of criminal cases, requiring only substantial evidence.
“Sa kasong administratibo, pwede ka parusahan ng iyong superior kung sinabi ng tao na ‘huwag mo ako kunan’. Kasi inabuso mo ang iyong kapangyarihan (For an administrative violation, you can be penalized by your superior if the person asked you not to film them. Because you abused your authority),” Dela Cruz said.
On Tuesday, Go uploaded a video on his Facebook page of his apprehension of a teacher on a motorcycle for not wearing a helmet.
In the video, the teacher was unidentifiable but asked Go not to upload the video online as he was known in the area. (PNA)
