Republic Act No. 10175- CYBERCRIME LAW

Republic of the Philippines Congress of the Philippines Metro Manila Fifteenth Congress Second Regular Session Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday the Twenty-fifth day of July two thousand eleven. [ Republic Act No. 10175 ] AN ACT DEFINING CYBERCRIME, PROVIDING FOR THE PREVENTION, INVESTIGATION, SUPPRESSION AND THE IMPOSITION OF PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY PROVISIONS SECTION 1.  Title. —  This Act shall be known as the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012”. SEC. 2.  Declaration of Policy. —  The State recognizes the vital role of information and communications industries such as content production, telecommunications, broadcasting electronic commerce, and data processing, in the nation’s overall social and economic development. The State also recognizes the importance of providing an environment conducive to the development, acceleration, and rational application and exploitation of information and communications technology (ICT) to attain free, easy, and intelligible access to exchange and/or delivery of information; and the need to protect and safeguard the integrity of computer, computer and communications systems, networks, and databases, and the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information and data stored therein, from all forms of misuse, abuse, and illegal access by ma...

CHAPTER II PUNISHABLE ACTS SEC. 4.  Cybercrime Offenses. —  The following acts constitute the offense of cybercrime punishable under this Act: (a) Offenses against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems: (1) Illegal Access. – The access to the whole or any part of a computer system without right. (2) Illegal Interception. – The interception made by technical means without right of any non-public transmission of computer data to, from, or within a computer system including electromagnetic emissions from a computer system carrying such computer data. (3) Data Interference. — The intentional or reckless alteration, damaging, deletion or deterioration of computer data, electronic document, or electronic data message, without right, including the introduction or transmission of viruses. (4) System Interference. — The intentional alteration or reckless hindering or interference with the functioning of a computer or computer ...

CHAPTER III PENALTIES SEC. 8.  Penalties.  — Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Sections 4(a) and 4(b) of this Act shall be punished with imprisonment of  prision mayor  or a fine of at least Two hundred thousand pesos (PhP200,000.00) up to a maximum amount commensurate to the damage incurred or both. Any person found guilty of the punishable act under Section 4(a)(5) shall be punished with imprisonment of  prision mayor  or a fine of not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (PhP500,000.00) or both. If punishable acts in Section 4(a) are committed against critical infrastructure, the penalty of  reclusion temporal  or a fine of at least Five hundred thousand pesos (PhP500,000.00) up to maximum amount commensurate to the damage incurred or both, shall be imposed. Any person found guilty of any of the punishable acts enumerated in Section 4(c)(1) of this Act shall be punished with imprisonment of...

CHAPTER IV ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION SEC. 10.  Law Enforcement Authorities. —  The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) shall be responsible for the efficient and effective law enforcement of the provisions of this Act. The NBI and the PNP shall organize a cybercrime unit or center manned by special investigators to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this Act. SEC. 11.  Duties of Law Enforcement Authorities. —  To ensure that the technical nature of cybercrime and its prevention is given focus and considering the procedures involved for international cooperation, law enforcement authorities specifically the computer or technology crime divisions or units responsible for the investigation of cybercrimes are required to submit timely and regular reports including pre-operation, post-operation and investigation results and such other documents as may be required to the Department of Justice (DOJ) fo...

CHAPTER V JURISDICTION SEC. 21.  Jurisdiction.  — The Regional Trial Court shall have jurisdiction over any violation of the provisions of this Act. including any violation committed by a Filipino national regardless of the place of commission. Jurisdiction shall lie if any of the elements was committed within the Philippines or committed with the use of any computer system wholly or partly situated in the country, or when by such commission any damage is caused to a natural or juridical person who, at the time the offense was committed, was in the Philippines. There shall be designated special cybercrime courts manned by specially trained judges to handle cybercrime cases.

CHAPTER VI INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION Sec. 22.  General Principles Relating to International Cooperation  — All relevant international instruments on international cooperation in criminal matters, arrangements agreed on the basis of uniform or reciprocal legislation, and domestic laws, to the widest extent possible for the purposes of investigations or proceedings concerning criminal offenses related to computer systems and data, or for the collection of evidence in electronic form of a criminal, offense shall be given full force and effect.

CHAPTER VII COMPETENT AUTHORITIES SEC 23.  Department of Justice (DOJ).  — There is hereby created an Office of Cybercrime within the DOJ designated as the central authority in all matters related to international mutual assistance and extradition. SEC. 24.  Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center. —  There is hereby created, within thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, an inter-agency body to be known as the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), under the administrative supervision of the Office of the President, for policy coordination among concerned agencies and for the formulation and enforcement of the national cybersecurity plan. SEC. 25.  Composition.  — The CICC shall be headed by the Executive Director of the Information and Communications Technology Office under the Department of Science and Technology (ICTO-DOST) as Chairperson with the Director of the NBI as Vice Chairperson; the Chief of the...

CHAPTER VIII FINAL PROVISIONS SEC. 27.  Appropriations. —  The amount of Fifty million pesos (PhP50,000,000.00) shall be appropriated annually for the implementation of this Act. SEC. 28.  Implementing Rules and Regulations. —  The ICTO-DOST, the DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) shall jointly formulate the necessary rules and regulations within ninety (90) days from approval of this Act, for its effective implementation. SEC. 29.  Separability Clause —  If any provision of this Act is held invalid, the other provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect. SEC. 30.  Repealing Clause. —  All laws, decrees or rules inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Section 33(a) of Republic Act No. 8792 or the “Electronic Commerce Act” is hereby modified accordingly. SEC. 31.  Effectivity. —  This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after the completi...