Malacañang sees nothing wrong with the move of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to monitor social media accounts for quarantine violations, saying the right to privacy was already waived once something was posted on the Internet.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement after the Joint Task Force COVID Shield ordered all police commanders to monitor social media for violations of quarantine protocol.
Roque said that monitoring social media was not listed as a violation of the country's Cybercrimes Act.
"Hindi naman po pinagbabawal ang social media monitoring. So wala pong mali sa ginagawa ng pulis kung tinitignan lang nila kung ano ang naka-post sa social media (Social media monitoring is not prohibited so there's nothing wrong if our police would check what is posted in social media)," he said.
"Yung pagmomonitor po, hindi po 'yan illegal (Monitoring is not illegal)," he said.
The move of the PNP to monitor social media for possible quarantine violations received criticisms, saying this violates a person's right to privacy.
However, Roque said a person has waived his right to privacy the moment he posts something on social media.
"Pinost po 'yan, eh (It's already posted)," he said.
"So parang nagkaroon po ng waiver of privacy diyan kapag posted na po ang isang bagay sa social media (Posting something on social media is like a waiver of privacy)," he added.
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) president Domingo Egon Cayosa likewise said that the police have the power to check viral posts for quarantine violations.
"Kahit sino po, nakikita niya, at hindi naman bawal na titingnan din iyan ng mga law enforcement agency (Anyone can see that and law enforcers are not prohibited from looking at them)," he said.
Roque added that checking social media accounts is now part of the police's standard operating procedure (SOP) when conducting investigations.
"Ito po ay isang instance lang naman na ginagamit ng ating kapulisan ang teknolohiya (This is just one instance where the police are using technology)," he said.
"Ngayon po kasi talaga, pagdating sa mga imbestigasyon, ini-enganyo ang pag-check sa social media, pag-check sa mga cellphones, SOP na po 'yan lalong-lalo na sa mga developed countries 'pag sila ay nag-i-imbestiga (At present, police are encouraged to check social media and cellphone during investigations, especially in developed countries)," he added.