John Paul M. Gaba, a Partner of the Firm’s Intellectual Property Department, delivered a lecture on the “Right to Privacy in the Digital Age & the Philippine Data Privacy Act “during the 21st National Convention of the Metropolitan & City Judges Association of the Philippines (“METCJAP”) in Dumaguete City last 12 September 2019. The Convention was organized by the Philippine Judicial Academy (“PHILJA”) and around 150 judges from around the country participated. Among the notable guests was Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, Hon. Lucas P. Bersamin.
Mr. Gaba talked about the salient features of the Data Privacy Act (“DPA”), its implementing rules and regulations, and various issuances of the National Privacy Commission (“NPC”) – the country’s lead agency for data privacy protection. He also discussed the impact of the law on current legal landscape on business practices as well as the issues relating to compliance and trends on enforcement. He also discussed the prevailing themes in Supreme Court decisions that tackle the issue on privacy rights in the digital space.
Mr. Gaba specializes in intellectual property, information technology and cyberspace/internet law, and data privacy/data protection law. He assists clients on DPA compliance and handles both contentious and non-contentious data privacy matters and cases. As early as 2003, he actively participated as a member of the first Technical Working Group on the drafting of Privacy Legislation under the auspices of the then Information Technology & Electronic Commerce Council (“ITECC”), the predecessor of the Department of Information & Communications Technology.
Mr. Gaba is a Member of the International Association of Privacy Practitioners, and a professorial lecturer and Member of PHILJA’s Corps of Professors and a Regular Member of its Department of Court Technology.