Short answer. Section 72 punishes anyone who reveals the confidential records of a drug dependent under the voluntary submission program with imprisonment and a fine. Where the offender is a government official or employee, the maximum applies, plus absolute perpetual disqualification from public office. It reaches anyone who holds or gains the records, lawfully or not.
What the law says
shall be imposed upon any person who, having official custody of or access to the confidential records of any drug dependent under voluntary submission programs, or anyone who, having gained possession of said records, whether lawfully or not, reveals their content to any person other than those charged with the prosecution of the offenses under this Act
RA 9165, Section 72 — Breach Of Record Confidentiality. Read the full provision →
Who and what the section covers
The penalty falls upon any person who, having official custody of or access to the confidential records of any drug dependent under voluntary submission programs, or anyone who, having gained possession of said records, whether lawfully or not, reveals their content to any person other than those charged with the prosecution of the offenses under this Act. Two groups are caught: insiders who hold or can reach the records, and outsiders who come into possession of them by any means. The prohibited act is disclosing the content to anyone other than those tasked with prosecuting offences under the drug law.
The penalty
The section imposes imprisonment ranging from six months and one day to six years, together with a fine of one thousand to six thousand pesos. Where the offender is a government official or employee, the maximum penalty is imposed, and absolute perpetual disqualification from any public office is added on top. The heavier treatment of public officers reflects the trust placed in those who are given custody of or access to such records in the first place — a breach by an insider is treated as graver than the same disclosure by a stranger to the file.
If the records are used to blackmail
The section goes further where the leak turns into leverage. Should the records be used for unlawful purposes, such as blackmail of the drug dependent or the members of their family, the penalty for violating confidentiality is imposed in addition to whatever other crime the offender may be convicted of. So misusing the records to extort is not absorbed into a single charge — the confidentiality offence stacks on top of the separate offence the extortion itself constitutes. The law treats the breach and the weaponising of the records as two distinct wrongs.
What this protects, and next steps
The section exists to give the confidentiality of the voluntary submission program real force by attaching a criminal price to breaching it. Whether particular records fall within it depends on their being records of a drug dependent under that program. A person whose records have been disclosed, or worse, used against them, should preserve evidence of the leak — who held the records, how they were passed on — and take advice, since a complaint under this section can proceed alongside any charge for the use to which the records were then put.