THE CRYPTOLOGY RESEARCH PROJECT OF DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL, THE AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION AND THE NEED TO OVERHAUL THE PHILIPPINE SYSTEM CONCERNING AUTOMATED ELECTIONS AND AUTOMATED TRANSACTIONS

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was introduced to the legal necessity and beauty of cryptology (the art and science of encrypting and decrypting secret messages) in an “Internet and Law” class he took facilitated by Dr. Alan Davidson in 1999, when Dr. Ramiscal was taking up a combined class and thesis Master of Laws degree (Advanced) at the University of Queensland, Australia under a very competitive AUSAID scholarship program. He belonged to the last batch of people from the private sector to be granted the AUSAID scholarship. Dr. Davidson took all the members of that class through the basic elements of cryptography and demonstrated the use of an open free type of cryptography called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). Dr. Ramiscal had first hand access to the software and learned later on about the essential legal, particularly the human rights, issues concerning the significance of encrypting secrets. His fascination with cryptology grew with his own research.

In 2003, he was back in Australia for his Ph.D. in law, undertaken under the Australian Government and the University of Queensland’s International Postgraduate Research Scholarship programs. Since he has decided to concentrate on Information and Technology Law concerning higher education, he thought he could incorporate his initial research on cryptology concerning four jurisdictions: Australia, UK, USA and the Philippines.  Two of the papers he wrote relative to cryptology, academic freedom and terrorism, were accepted and presented by him in two international conferences, one in Brisbane, and another one in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. In the end, the portion on cryptology he wrote for his Ph.D. thesis was excluded because it made the thesis exceed the maximum word limit. That did not stop him from talking about the subject in his professional lectures and in his classes at UP Los Baños where he taught as an Associate Professor for a time.

In 2008, Dr. Ramiscal was granted the “First Outstanding Australian Alumnus” award by the Philippine Australian Alumni Association (PA3i),

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal in front of the Philippine Australia Alumni 2008 Forum poster

in conjunction with the Australian Embassy for his legal research and advocacies undertaken for the “betterment of his countrymen”. In his acceptance speech before his fellow alumni, the Australian Ambassador and the officers of PA3i,

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal with his “Most Outstanding Australian Alumnus” award received from then PA3i Pres. Romero and Amb. Rod Smith

he acknowledged the huge debt of gratitude he has for the Australian Government and the University of Queensland for allowing him the latitude to research on any subject he desired and fairly recognizing his talents. He has always maintained that in Australia, one can succeed on pure merit alone because of the Aussie mentality that believes in giving everyone a fair chance.

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal having a light moment with Australian Ambassador Rod Smith and PA3i officers in the award ceremonies

He has sworn since then to live up to the distinction of the award through his personal and professional advocacies concerning IT and Law and striving to make the intersections between these two disciplines clear for the guidance and empowerment of their stakeholders.

In 2012, Dr. Ramiscal was granted a research grant by the University of the Philippines International Institute of Legal Studies headed by the brilliant and eminent international law and human rights expert, Atty. Harry Roque, Jr. His research grant was for the study of the international and national law issues concerning cryptology. Dr. Ramiscal gave a copy of the manuscript to Atty. Roque Jr. last January 27, 2015, at the Jessup Moot Court Competition Room of the UP Law School.

It took him three years to complete because of the many developments that happened, and continue to happen, in this multidisciplinary field. His research gave a historical account of the development in cryptology which had impacted the arts and different sciences from the authorship of Shakespeare’s sonnets to quantum physics, quantum mechanics, and biomolecular nanotechnology. It covered the current trends and controversies in cryptology in several jurisdictions. He scrutinized the limitations and repercussions imposed by the current Wasennaar Arrangement between forty one countries on the research, entrepreneurial endeavours and possible human rights of the citizens and businesses in these countries. He also explored the connection between the Arrangement and the Arms Trade Treaty (which the Philippines signed in September 2013).

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal presenting his manuscript of “Cryptology: The Law and Science of Electronic Secrets and Codes” to then UP Institute of International Legal Studies Director, Atty. Harry Roque Jr. last January 27, 2015

Dr. Ramiscal traced the history and development of export controls on cryptology which is considered a dual use munition or good in the US, UK and Australia. The research connected the concerns of these States with terrorism, in its physical and virtual forms. He analyzed the constitutional challenges brought by the American academics against the export licensing system of the US Government, as well as the recent legal trend of states subpoenaing accused for the disclosure of their decryption keys to possibly incriminating evidence. Dr. Ramiscal discussed and critiqued the current UK Vetting System for the publication and dissemination of academic works and even teaching to certain students of certain countries that might impart information concerning cryptology which can be used in terrorism, as well as the impact of other UK laws on the privacy and academic freedoms of citizens and educators respectively. For Australia, Dr. Ramiscal looked at the legislation concerning export controls, Weapons of Mass Destruction, terrorism and crimes, and case laws which provide a guide into the Commonwealth’s approach to unregulated cryptography. One of the pressing and controversial proposals put forth by the Office of the Solicitor General is the issuance of “intelligibility disclosure notices” relative to encrypted content.

The Philippines presented a challenging legalscape as far as the research was concerned. While the Philippines is not a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement and is not one of those countries listed as having any official encryption policy or export control on dual use goods that incorporate cryptological features, it is a country that has been mired in source code controversy over the automated election system (AES) machines procured since 2009 by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). Dr. Ramiscal dissected several election issues exclusively pertaining to the source codes of the AES machines and their non-review in the 2010, and selective review in the 2013, automated elections by legitimate third party source code reviewers. He considered several matters pertaining to the procurement activities of the COMELEC regarding the 2016 automated elections. Within the context of cryptology, Dr. Ramiscal also probed different issues pertaining to the government’s electronic procurement system, the Land Registration Authority’s electronic titling system, the (still to be activated) National Privacy Commission’s (NPC) responsibility for the security of electronic data of Philippine data subjects, the need to review the role of data privacy controllers and third party certification authorities of electronic data, and even the necessity for reconsidering the ethical obligation of lawyers to secure their client’s confidential information via cryptology. The result of Dr. Ramiscal’s research is a proposal that will overhaul the whole system of protecting the rights and interests of the Philippine electorate, as well as the privacy rights of Philippine citizens over their electronic data.

In order to finish and submit his research output, Dr. Ramiscal had to sacrifice an invitation to join the Australian Alumni Night bash at Greenbelt in January 26, 2015, which is “Australia Day”. Anyway, to all the Aussie alumni and luminaries who attended, the best days ahead!

Dr. Ramiscal is grateful to the UPIILS grant given to him, to the wonderful Atty. Harry Roque Jr., and to the supportive UPIILS staff, and in particular, to the very kind Ms. Aurelia Tolentino.

Electronic Titling of Lands in the Philippines: The Voluntary Titling Standardization Program (VTSP) of the Land Registration Authority

On July 9, 2014, Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was given a great opportunity to lecture before the Land Registration Authority (LRA) Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) seminar series held in conjunction with the University of the Philippines Institute of Administration of Justice (UP IAJ).

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal during the welcoming rites of his LRA MCLE Lecture

In a very candid two hour lecture, Dr. Ramiscal, apprised the lawyers of LRA from the different regions of the Philippines who converged in their East Avenue Conference Hall of different international developments and standards relative to information technology innovations that have significant impact in the way nations and people deal with one another. Dr. Ramiscal talked about politically motivated cyber attacks on different states by other states and possibly by state-sponsored “cracktivists” and the new information warfare weapons that they unleash including new designer worms, viruses and electro-magnetic pulse bombs. As he emphasized, no government structure or agency that rely on computer systems to secure their operations and electronic data is safe in the event of a zero day attack or an all out information warfare. He also discussed the developments and implications of intimate internet terrorism and virtual adultery and some of the solutions some jurisdictions have come up to address these matters.

But the most important thing that Dr. Ramiscal addressed in his lecture, which he deemed would be most useful to LRA officials and lawyers was the Voluntary Titling Standardization Program (VTSP) which was implemented via LRA Circular 11, s of 2011. Sec. 4 c. of this circular provided “(a)ll the pertinent data in the manually issued Title shall be encoded and the corresponding annotations shall be made using the format and templates provided in the Computerized System, except for annotations already existing in the manually issued Title, which shall be copied en toto on the resulting eTitle”. It then provided that the resulting encoded data and all the pertinent documents shall be examined by the Registration examiner and if everything appears to be aboveboard, then s/he shall transmit the same to the approving authority, which in this case would be the Registrar. The manually issued Title would be scanned, deactivated and kept in a vault for security purposes. Sec. 2 of the said Circular requires the surrender only of the Owner’s and all Co-Owners’ (as the case may be) Duplicate Certificates of Titles. The e-Title would be controlling.

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal during his July 9, 2014 MCLE Lecture for the LRA

Dr. Ramiscal requested the presence of the pertinent IT official of LRA, together with the relevant (lawyer) officials of LRA who were in attendance to shed some light on this important undertaking. In the discussion that ensued, it was made clear that the VTSP is a “registration” system, not a mere “recording” system, and as such it gives constructive notice to the world about the accuracy of the data embodied in the e-titles, particularly the ownership of the lands subject of the e-titles. It was also made clear from the statements made by those present during the lecture that the security of the e-titling process and the e-titles are handled by a foreign company whose cryptology system was supposedly proprietary and the details of which were not known to the LRA officials and employees present.

Dr. Ramiscal, with the express approval of the lawyers and LRA officials present, gave his perspectives and suggestions as to how to make the e-titling process a more useful process. He shared with them his professional experience in conducting a survey of land titles and land conflicts of one hundred twelve (112) State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the entire Philippines when he served as a Technical Consultant for a government agency. Apart from the conflicting data about the land areas of these SUCs gathered from different sources, including the SUCs themselves, the data involving controversies surrounding land ownership and encumbrances like mortgages were also not clear. Dr. Ramiscal impressed upon the LRA officials and employees the necessity and importance of a registration system that could capture all the relevant, current, and accurate data about the titled lands in the Philippines, which could obviate further controversies and be the basis of rational national and local policies and actions. The E-Titling system of the LRA could be the right step in that direction and could truly be a more meaningful tool for all land stakeholders, claimants and investors.

Dr. Ramiscal expressly stated his desire to see the VTSP of LRA succeed and to assist in this regard, Dr. Ramiscal shared some insights. With respect to capturing all the needed e-data about titled lands, including past and ongoing land controversies and encumbrances, Dr. Ramiscal apprised those present about the metadata initiatives from several organizations including the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), which could make the data process and searching more efficient and effective. He also discussed several types of cryptological systems and the ways and means by which other governments have deployed these systems to protect their computing systems and e-data. In particular he discussed the Suite B system endorsed by the Australian government which consists of standards that need to be observed in employing symmetric and asymmetric cryptological technologies to safeguard the security, integrity, authenticity and reliability of e-data assets.

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal’s photo of the wonderful LRA lawyers who graced his July 9, 2014 MCLE lecture

Furthermore, Dr. Ramiscal expressed his view that a mere administrative circular would not suffice to cloth LRA with the enabling power to make the E-Titling system the compulsory land titling system in the Philippines. The appropriate measure for this is a law that gives protection for LRA officials, most notably the Registrar that issues the E-Title, in cases of false/fraudulent E-Title registration perpetrated by third parties or by the registrants themselves. Such law must articulate and provide the rationale why the functional equivalence rule between paper and electronic documents recognized under the E-Commerce Code of the Philippines and the Philippine Rules on Electronic Evidence no longer applies to E-Titles. There were other several points that Dr. Ramiscal would have liked to raise to flesh out his concerns but the constraints of an MCLE lecture would not permit him to do so.

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal receiving a plaque of appreciation from LRA Dep. and Atty. Robert Nomar V. Leyretana

Thank you to all the wonderful LRA officials and employees who graced his lecture and even clapped on several occasions on some of the points he made. This is part of Dr. Ramiscal’s commitment to deliver lectures that are relevant and useful to the very receptive and appreciative audience he has been blessed to address and share his insights with in all his MCLE Lectures. And kudos to all the UP IAJ people involved in the LRA MCLE series for their amazing professionalism. God Bless Us!