By Paul Abbott P. Enriquez
As another calendar year comes to a close, Philippine companies
are best advised to review their computer use policies to ensure
that they have clear and reasonable guidelines on the recognition
of employee privacy in the workplace. While the Bill of Rights of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution could only be used against the
State, it is still a good corporate practice to make it known to
the rank-and-file that the management has the prerogative to
inspect the digital workstations of their employees.
In Pollo vs. Constantino-David, et al.,1 the
Philippine Supreme Court held that the search made by the Civil
Service Commission (CSC) in office-issued computer of a public
employee did not violate Section 2, Article III of the 1987
Constitution2 since it passed the two-fold test:
