Section 6. Freedom from Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, An Absolute Bight.

Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or !unishment as criminal acts shall a!!l" to all circumstances. A state of #ar or a threat of #ar, internal !olitical instabilit", or an" other !ublic emergenc", or a document or an" determination com!rising an $order of battle$ shall not and can ne%er be in%o&ed as a 'ustification for torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or !unishment.

As emphasized in the preceding provision, all kinds of torture, in whatever form or guise may it be, is strongly condemned by the Philippine laws. This simply means that no deviation from the right against torture can be tolerated under any circumstance. Further, as discussed in one of the law journals, under nternational !aw, no e"ceptional circumstances whatsoever and no superior orders, may be invoked as a justification of torture #$autista, %&''(. )ith that, Philippines committed itself to the principle provided by the nternational *umanitarian !aw # * !( that +,o person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment+. Torture, even seen as the last resort of elucidating truth and information to people, can never be invoked in a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency. -ven during the most futile war, the government can never validate the use of violence or coercion in securing beneficial information to its public enemy.

Section (. Prohibited Detention. Secret detention !laces, solitar" confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms of detention, #here torture ma" be carried out #ith im!unit". Are hereb" !rohibited. In #hich case, the Phili!!ine )ational Police *P)P+, the Armed Forces of the Phili!!ines *AFP+ and other la# enforcement. agencies concerned shall ma&e an u!dated list of all detention centers and facilities under their res!ecti%e 'urisdictions #ith the corres!onding data on the !risoners or detainees incarcerated or detained therein such as, among others, names, date of arrest and incarceration, and the crime or offense committed. This list shall be made a%ailable to the !ublic at all times, #ith a co!" of the com!lete list a%ailable at the res!ecti%e national head,uarters of the P)P and AFP. A co!" of the com!lete list shall li&e#ise be submitted b" the P)P, AFP and all other la# enforcement agencies to the Commission on -uman .ights *C-.+, such list to be !eriodicall" u!dated, b" the same agencies, #ithin the first fi%e */+ da"s of e%er" month at the minimum. 0%er" regional office of the P)P, AFP and other la# enforcement agencies shall also maintain a similar list far all detainees and detention facilities #ithin their res!ecti%e areas, and shall ma&e the same a%ailable to the !ublic at all times at their res!ecti%e regional head,uarters, and submit a co!". u!dated in the same manner !ro%ided abo%e, to the res!ecti%e regional offices of the C-.. After %% years of advocacy and lobbying by the concerned sectors of the community, the Philippines finally enacted the Anti.Torture !aw in ,ovember %&&/. 0et, much has to be done in order to fully enforced the said law, since it is usually donned or criticized as a mere scrap of paper. As previously defined, other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment refers to a deliberate and aggravated treatment or punishment not included in the enumeration of acts of torture inflicted by a person in authority or agent of a person in authority against a person in his custody. t is but logical that most of the culprit or main offenders are person in authority or agent of a person in authority for the law specifies that torture is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with consent of such person. 1nder the first paragraph of Article '2% of 3evised Penal 4ode, a !erson in authorit" is +any person directly vested with jurisdiction, whether as an individual or as a member of some court or

government owned or controlled corporation, board, or commission. )hile, second paragraph of Article '2% of the code states that +A person who by direct provision of law or by election or by appointment by competent authority, is charged with the maintenance of public order, and any person who comes to the aid of person shall be deemed an agent of a !erson in authorit" ". of 1nder 5ection '%#%( of Article 6 of the '/78 4onstitution provides that every secret detention places, solitary confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms of detention, where torture may be carried out with impunity are deemed prohibited. 5ection 8 of 3.A. /892 is an implement and reiteration of this constitutional mandate. 5ecret detention places has special reference to +safe house+ and, like solitary and incommunicado detention, where phenomena during the authoritarian regime of President :arcos. :ore so, the Philippine ,ational Police #P,P(, the Armed Forces of the Philippines #AFP( and other law enforcement. agencies concerned shall make an updated list of all detention centers and facilities under their respective jurisdictions with the corresponding data on the prisoners or detainees incarcerated or detained therein such as, among others, names, date of arrest and incarceration, and the crime or offense committed. This list shall be made available to the public at all times and must be periodically updated within five #2( days of every month. Through this section, preventive measures such as securing the list of all detention centers were adopted to further strengthen the enforcement of said law. *ence, failure to perform his;her duty to maintain, submit an updated list of detention centers and facilities with the corresponding data on the prisoners or detainees incarcerated or destined therein is also punishable under 5ection 8 in relation to 5ection '9. Section 11. Assistance in Filing a Com!laint. The C-. and the PAO shall render legal assistance in the in%estigation and monitoring and2or filing of the com!laint for a !erson #ho suffers torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or !unishment, or for an" interested !art" thereto. The %ictim or interested !art" ma" also see& legal assistance from the Baranga" -uman .ights Action Center *B..AC+ nearest him2her as #ell as from human rights nongo%ernment organi3ations *)4Os+. It is a factual sight that only few cases regarding the violation of Anti-Torture Act or none at all have reached the Supreme Court. It may be accounted to the slow-paced and deteriorating process of the system and its government agencies. In one of the articles published relating to the efficiency of the said law, eight health workers who were part of the so-called Morong 43 have decided to test the law. Among the foregoing administration, the administration of former President Arroyo is being blamed for the unsolved political killings and enforced disappearance. In May 2012, they filed torture charges against former president Gloria MacapagalArroyo, her top military officials and those involved in the detention and torture of the 43 health workers. One year after, the first anti-torture case is still under preliminary investigation while some of the suspects in the military have been promoted. As stated in Section 11, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and PAO shall render legal assistance in the filing of a complaint of a person who suffers torture and other cruel, inhuman treatment. The victim or interested party may also seek legal assistance from the Barangay Human Rights Action Center nearest him/her as well as from human rights nongovernment organizations (NGOs). Also, under the Section 18 of Implementing Rules and Regulations of Anti-Torture Act of 2009, the BHRAC, through Barangay Human Rights Action Officers shall render assistance in the following manner, 1) Conduct information education campaign on this law, 2) Refer victims of torture to the CHR or other appropriate agency for the conduct of investigation of legal assistance. The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and CHR shall conduct information dissemination at the grassroots level to ensure that the citizenry will utilize the BHRAC in filing complaints. Yet, even as expressly provided by the above-stated Section, the snail-paced serving of justice will render the objectives of the law as indubitable and unenforceable. While the passage of R.A. 9745 is seen as a hope to stop in what seems to be a culture of impunity on human rights violations, still certain provisions of this law particularly Section 11 need improvement or amendment.

Section 13. 5ho are Criminall" 6iable. - Any person who actually participated Or induced another in the commission of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated in the execution of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment by previous or simultaneous acts shall be liable as principal Any superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government official who issued an order to any lower ran ing personnel to commit torture for whatever purpose shall be held e!ually liable as principals. "he immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of the A#$ or the immediate senior public official of the $%$ and other law enforcement agencies shall be held liable as a principal to the crime of torture or other cruel or inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment for any act or omission, or negligence committed by him&her that shall have led, assisted, abetted or allowed, whether directly or indirectly, the commission thereof by his&her subordinates. 'f he&she has nowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have nown that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment shall be committed, is being committed, or has been committed by his&her subordinates or by others within his&her area of responsibility and, despite such nowledge, did not ta e preventive or corrective action either before, during or immediately after its commission, when he&she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment but failed to prevent or investigate allegations of such act, whether deliberately or due to negligence shall also be liable as principals. Any public officer or employee shall be liable as an accessory if he&she has nowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is being committed and without having participated therein, either as principal or accomplice, ta es part subse!uent to its commission in any of the following manner( )a* +y themselves profiting from or assisting the offender to profit from the effects of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, )b* +y concealing the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment and&or destroying the effects or instruments thereof in order to prevent its discovery, or)c* +y harboring, concealing or assisting m the escape of the principal&s in the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment( $rovided, "hat the accessory acts are done with the abuse of the official-s public functions.

5ection '< of 3epublic Act /892 e"pressly provides that any person who actually participated or induced another in the commission of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated in the e"ecution of the act of torture by previous or simultaneous acts shall be liable as principal. As already aforesaid, the law finds application on cases of torture committed in the course of arrest, detention and confinement. t is clear that the principal offender is a person in authority or an agent of person in authority. Thus, any superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government official who issued an order to a lower ranking personnel to subject a victim to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment for whatever purpose shall be held e=ually liable as principal.

4ommand responsibility is enshrined in the Anti.Torture Act of %&&/. 1nder 5ec. '<,the immediate superior of the unit concerned of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the e=uivalent senior official of the offender shall be held accountable for >neglect of duty? under the doctrine of >4ommand 3esponsibility? if he;she has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment shall be committed, is being committed or has been committed by his;her subordinates or by others within his;her area of responsibility and, despite such knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action either before, during or immediately after its commission, when he;she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment but failed to prevent or investigate allegations of such act, whether deliberately or due to negligence, shall, without prejudice to criminal liability, be held administratively liable under the principle of command responsibility. To summarize, the following are deemed as principal@ '. Airect participator, inducer and indispensable cooperatorB %. 5uperior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government official who ordered lower ranking to commit torture, <. mmediate commanding officer of AFP, senior public official of the P,P and other law enforcement agencies for any act, omission or negligence 9. 4ommanding officer or senior public official who knowledge of or should have known that said acts shall be, is being or has been committed by his subordinates within his area of responsibility and, despite such knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action before or during its commission. )hile, the accessories are said to be public officers or employees who have knowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman punishment is being committed and not veing either principal or accomplice take part into any of the following acts@ '. Profiting from or assisting offender to profit from the effects of torture %. 4oncealing the said acts and;or destroying the effects <. *arboring, concealing or assisting the escape of principal in the act of torture

As gleaned from above, there is no mention of an accomplice in 5ection '<. $esides, accomplices are punished as principals for paragraph ' of 5ection '< provides that any person +who cooperated in the e"ecution of the act or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.+

*owever, as stated in 5ection %7 of the mplement 3ules, if in the event a child is involved in the act of inflicting torture, the handling and treatment of said child shall be in accordance with 3A 8C'/, 3A /<99 and other related laws.

Section 1.. A!!licabilit" of .efouler. - %o person shall be expelled, returned or extradited to another State where there are substantial grounds to believe that such person shall be in danger of being sub/ected to torture. #or the purposes of determining whether such grounds exist, the Secretary of the 0epartment of #oreign Affairs )0#A* and the Secretary of the 0O1, in coordination with the 2hairperson of the 234, shall ta e into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable and not limited to, the existence in the re!uesting State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

Section 15. Compensation to Victims of Torture. . Any person who has suffered torture shall have the right to claim for compensation as provided for under 3epublic Act ,o. 8<&/@ Provided, That in no case shall compensation be any lower than Ten thousand pesos #P'&,&&&.&&(. 6ictims of torture shall also have the right to claim for compensation from such other financial relief programs that may be made available to him;her under e"isting law and rules and regulations.