Cellphone Misuse

For the past 10 years or so, the population of mobile phone users grew largely due to this text messaging feature which we now avail for a fee and have become a major and sustainable business for cellular phone companies. Just like the PC, the mobile phone has become a standard in both the business and personal affairs of an average Filipino. As the number of subscribers grew bigger, so did the incidence of abuse or misuse. We hear numerous stories involving stalking with the use of a mobile phone and even crimes being perpetuated with more ease and while these phenomena continued to be so prevalent in the Philippines, our laws sadly have not kept up with the technology that has become embedded in our daily routine. Once in a while, we hear legal scholars tinker with the idea of using the abuse of rights provisions in the New Civil Code which is probably the closest we could get to the stalkers until we come up with a law that particularly deals with mobile phone misuse.

Last Tuesday, a 17 year old girl was charged in the U.S. for misuse of cell phone after a text message was traced from her which prompted a 37 year old man to appear naked at the doorstep of a house for some “good time” with 2 friendly women. The girl was not convicted but was asked to put up a good behavior bond.

Although a cell phone misuse statute probably leaves much to be desired, it could also be a start. It sounds more promising than the catch-all abuse of rights statute we have so far. I guess the beauty in criminalizing misuse of cell phone lies in that a person injured can have more than a civil action for damages.


---- Marichelle B. Recio