Dear PAO,

I married Mark out of love. Aside from his good looks and stable job, he also possesses all the traits which a woman can dream of in a man. Our marriage went smoothly for several months, but he began to be resentful whenever he saw me conversing with a male person. He even started to open my mobile phone, emails, letters, personal computer, and social media accounts, as if he were always looking for something. I felt that my privacy was being violated, so I tried to convince him not to meddle with my phones, correspondences, etc. He, however, justified his actions by claiming that there is no such thing as a right to privacy between married individuals because we are expected to be truthful or faithful to one another. Allegedly, I will allow him to scrutinize my social media accounts, phones, letters, etc., if I am really loyal to him. Is he correct?

Zeyren

Dear Zeyrene,

The right to privacy is enshrined under Section 3, Article III of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which provides that:

“(1) The privacy of communication and correspondence shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when public safety or order requires otherwise, as prescribed by law.

“(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.”

Corollary thereto, one of the basic rights and obligations of married individuals is found under Article 68 of the Family Code of the Philippines, which reads:

“The husband and wife are obliged to live together, observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and render mutual help and support.”

Although fidelity is one of the many obligations of a married individual to his or her other half, it does not follow that privacy of one spouse has to be intruded upon. The right to privacy must be respected, whether married or not, as such right is protected under the fundamental law of the land, which is the Constitution. In Zulueta v. Court of Appeals and Martin, GR 107383, Feb. 20, 1996, the Supreme Court, through Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza, pronounced on the privacy between married individuals:

“Indeed the documents and papers in question are inadmissible in evidence. The constitutional injunction declaring ‘the privacy of communication and correspondence [to be] inviolable’ is no less applicable simply because it is the wife (who thinks herself aggrieved by her husband’s infidelity) who is the party against whom the constitutional provision is to be enforced. The only exception to the prohibition in the Constitution is if there is a ‘lawful order [from a] court or when public safety or order requires otherwise, as prescribed by law.’ Any violation of this provision renders the evidence obtained inadmissible ‘for any purpose in any proceeding.’

“The intimacies between husband and wife do not justify any one of them in breaking the drawers and cabinets of the other and in ransacking them for any telltale evidence of marital infidelity. A person, by contracting marriage, does not shed his/her integrity or his right to privacy as an individual and the constitutional protection is ever available to him or to her.”

Applying the above-quoted decision to your situation, the privacy of communication and correspondence is inviolable unless there is a lawful order from the court or when public safety requires intrusion. The said right can be exercised even by the husband or the wife and there is no provision under the Family Code of the Philippines, which states that a married individual sheds his or her right to privacy when he or she contracted marriage. Thus, Mark is not correct in his claim that there is no right to privacy between the husband and the wife.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice was based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Thank you for your continued trust and support.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]