Joey de Venecia seeks court remedy on tapped conversations

MANILA, Philippines - Businessman Jose P. de Venecia III has asked the Supreme Court (SC) to issue a writ of habeas data directing the military and some personalities involved in the National Broadband Network (NBN) mess to produce materials allegedly covering private conversations. In a 17-page petition filed with the high court on Wednesday, Mr. de Venecia said he learned of such tapped materials during his conversations with former poll chairman Benjamin S. Abalos, Sr. and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile. Mr. de Venecia is a major shareholder of Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. that lost in the NBN bidding. His father is former Speaker Jose C. de Venecia, Jr., who was ousted after claiming high-level graft and corruption in the administration. The younger De Venecia noted Mr. Abalos has, in one incident last year, claimed he was being tapped. Mr. Abalos would later on be tagged in the NBN bribery scandal. Also during the Senate investigations, Mr. Enrile himself "threatened to broadcast recordings of wiretapped conversations between petitioner and several other persons." He claimed he also received report that the intelligence units of the military and police are bugging his cellphones, parts of which were posted in www.youtube.com. The SC released the rules on the writ of habeas data in February. It is defined as a remedy available to any person whose right to privacy in life, liberty or security is violated or threatened by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a private individual or entity engaged in the gathering, collecting or storing of data or information regarding the person, family, home and correspondence of the aggrieved party. If the information is false, the petition could ask for its rectification, removal or destruction. — Ira P. Pedrasa, BusinessWorld