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Question
In a civil action for damages arising from a public works project, the plaintiff seeks to admit into evidence ephemeral electronic communications—WhatsApp messages between the project engineer of the government client and the contractor’s site supervisor—captured via a cloud-based chat export and printed as a PDF. The messages purportedly reflect approvals, changes in scope, and delivery schedules. The defendant objects, arguing that ephemeral electronic communications are unreliable and cannot be authenticated, and that the printout is not the original record. Under A.M. No. 01-7-01-SC, Rule 11, Sec. 2, answer: (a) whether ephemeral electronic communications may be admitted as documentary evidence and the controlling standard for admissibility; (b) what authentication steps are required to admit the chat messages, including who should testify and what showing is needed to establish authenticity; (c) if the original chat data on the device or platform is not available, what form of secondary evidence is permissible and under what conditions.