Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

RATIONAL RELATIONSHIP TEST

The rational relationship test is used in the field of law to detect the purpose of
a rational act. The rational relationship test is used majorly when the classification of
the suspect is not available. If the purpose of the criminality of the suspect is found to
be reasonably rational, then the act is termed to be legitimate. There is a lot of
subjectivity involved in determining the reasonableness of the act. Below are the
details regarding the rational relationship test.

Rational basis scrutiny means a level of scrutiny applied by courts while

determining cases involving issues of constitutional due process or equal protection
issues pertaining to the Fifth Amendment or Fourteenth Amendment. Rational basis
is the lowest level of scrutiny when compared with intermediate scrutiny and strict
scrutiny. Rational basis is the default level of review that a court applies when
engaging in judicial review. However, rational basis scrutiny is not applied in situations
where a suspect or quasi-suspect classification is involved, or a fundamental right is
involved. Under rational basis scrutiny, the means need only be "rationally related" to
a conceivable and legitimate state end. Further, in rational basis scrutiny, empirical
support is not even necessary to sustain a classification.

Rational relationship test Benefits:

The Supreme Court of states is generally responsible for upholding and
applying the rational relationship test. The rational relationship test is generally
applicable to hunting animals and to protect legitimate cases ending in getting freed
from criminal charges. The rational relationship test protects the legitimacy of action
and hence deters the person committing a legitimate crime in getting punishment.

Who should take the rational relationship test?

The rational relationship test is applicable only when the suspect category is
not available and the trail involves reasonableness of the act. It is not applicable when
the suspect category is already available. The alternative that is used in such cases is
called a scrutiny test.
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

What does the rational relationship test have?

The rational relationship test puts a less burden on demonstration on the
government. The only point of contention is to prove the rational relationship for the
interest of the state concerned. The rational relationship test protects equal protection
for one and all.

If the discriminatory category is reasonably related to attaining the purpose of

the policy, then the rational relationship test comes handy. The rational relationship
test is held high for all such cases when the reasonability of the case is justified with
enough clues and witnesses.

If there is a suspect category established, then the rational relationship test is

not used. Rather a strict scrutiny test is used in those cases.

IDENTITY THEFT: ITS CONCEPT

Identity fraud and identity theft has already cost exorbitant amounts of
money to the global economy in recent years. Philippines investigators, who have
been working with online fraud and privacy protection for a long time, know that the
amount of losses to identity theft and online crime have seen a significant rise, and will
probably continue to grow.

• With dismal economies around the world and limited employment opportunities,
more crooks are looking to cash in by stealing your identity, personal data and
banking information.

• Thanks to social media and other online sharing, internet criminals now have
an easier job to do, because half of the data is already being shared by you!

• Identity theft is a specific form of fraud that occurs when an imposter obtains
key pieces of personal data about a consumer—such as a Social Security or a
driver’s license number or date of birth—and uses that information to
impersonate the consumer by obtaining credit, merchandise or services in the
name of the victim, or to sell the personal data to other criminals.
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

• In some cases, criminals will even blackmail the victim or commit a crime in the
victim’s name. Although for many years identity theft was majorly linked to credit
card fraud, the truth is that a vast amount of other things can be done with
someone´s individual identity information, including trading in the black market,
money laundering, Filipina romance scams, corporate fraud, employee fraud,
etc. The anonymity that the Internet provides and the difficulty of tracking
the criminals makes identity theft and online fraud a serious problem.

Savvy organized criminals in the Philippines and in many other parts of the
world have identified social media and online dating sites as their prime victim hunting
ground. Every day, people voluntarily share private information on public networks or
share it with their online friends, who in many cases are still strangers, without realizing
how this can affect them on a financial level (credit reports, bank accounts, etc) or on
a personal level. The more information about you in public view, the greater at
risk you and your family members are. The less known about you, the safer you
are.

In the past few years, the media and privacy concerned organizations have
been working on alerting the people about the risks associated to a careless use of
the internet and to the growing risks of hackers. However, there is still a long way to
go in terms of education and risk mitigation.

But how does a perpetrator begin to steal your identity? There are way too
many variants and every day criminals create new methods, but a typical method is to
play on the victims´ desire to find better business or employment opportunities, and/or
the victims´ desire to help someone out who appears to be in distress, which is a
method used in online dating scams in the Philippines.

Increasingly, organized crime and terrorists are targeting people, especially

from developed countries through Facebook, dating websites and even professional
networks like Linkedin. They set up bogus profiles using someone else´s real identity
and then, once they have connected with people, they gain their trust and start
requesting the information they need. In other cases, victims simply volunteer all the
information criminals need, by putting too much in profiles or online.
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

As private investigators in the Philippines, we receive many inquiries from

individuals who suspect they have been scammed through a dating website or a social
network. For the victims, it is really hard to uncover the fraud without professional help,
due to the fact that the information being used belongs to a real person. It takes a local
professional investigator in Manila or the place of origin to uncover the identity theft
scam or fraud. For the identity theft victims, it is most likely impossible to find out that
someone is using their name and personal information to commit fraud.

Simple tips to avoid being victim:

1. Share less or no personal information online. Keep the interaction on social

networks away from your personal life. Have fun, but do not reveal anything
about yourself. Data such as address, date of birth, employer, dates you
will be on vacation, and so on are valuable. Protect them.

2. Be careful with unrequested emails, especially if those have links to places

where you need to fill out your information before accessing. Review your
“friends” list on social media, and be sure you actually know and trust every
single person on your list, or remove them.

3. Get professional help with dating background checks whenever you deal
with a stranger online via online dating or other romantic interest. Once you
determine there is an interest in a business or romantic relationship with
someone, confirm the facts with due diligence.

DUE PROCESS

WHAT IS DUE PROCESS?

> The idea that laws and legal proceedings must be fair
> Principle that the government must respect all of a person's legal rights instead of
just some or most of those legal rights when the government deprives a person of life,
liberty, or property
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
Website: www.cbsua.edu.ph

WHAT ARE THE TWO BRANCHES OF DUE PROCESS?

> Due process covers two aspects—substantive and procedural due process
> Substantive due process refers to the intrinsic validity of the law
> Procedural due process, which is based on the principle that a
renders judgment only after trial and based on the evidence presented therein

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION AND PRELIMINARY

INVESTIGATION
> Criminal investigation is a fact-finding investigation carried out by law-
enforcement officers for the purpose of determining whether they should file a
complaint for preliminary investigation
> Preliminary investigation is conducted for the purpose of determining if there is a
probable cause to hold a person for trial
WHAT IS PROBABLE CAUSE?
> Probable cause is the existence of such facts and circumstances as would excite
the belief in a reasonable mind, acting on the facts within the knowledge of the
prosecutor, that the person charged was guilty of the crime for which he was
prosecuted
> Based on the evidence that would be adduced by the parties

IS THE PRESENCE OF COUNSEL IN A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

MANDATORY?
> No, preliminary investigation is a summary proceeding and is merely
inquisitorial in nature
> The accused cannot yet fully exercised his rights
> However, if a confession is to be obtained from respondent, an uncounseled
confession would be void

RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS IN A PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

1. You cannot cross-examine
2. No right to counsel except when confession is being obtained
3. You cannot file complaint or information without authority
4. Right to be present not absolute
5. No dismissal without approval
6. Right to discovery proceedings