ARTICLE III

BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 12. (1) Any person under investigation for the commission
of an offense shall have the right to be informed of his right to
remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel
preferably of his own choice. If the person cannot afford the
services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights
cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel.
(2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other
means which vitiate the free will shall be used against him. Secret
detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms
of detention are prohibited.
(3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or
Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against him.
(4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations
of this section as well as compensation to and rehabilitation of
victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.
Republic Act No. 7438

April 27, 1992

AN ACT DEFINING CERTAIN RIGHTS OF PERSON ARRESTED,

DETAINED OR UNDER CUSTODIAL INVESTIGATION AS WELL
AS THE DUTIES OF THE ARRESTING, DETAINING AND
INVESTIGATING OFFICERS, AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR
VIOLATIONS THEREOF
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled::
Section 1. Statement of Policy. It is the policy of the Senate
to value the dignity of every human being and guarantee full
respect for human rights.
Section 2. Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under
Custodial Investigation; Duties of Public Officers.
(a) Any person arrested detained or under custodial investigation
shall at all times be assisted by counsel.

(b) Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under his

order or his place, who arrests, detains or investigates any person
for the commission of an offense shall inform the latter, in a
language known to and understood by him, of his rights to remain
silent and to have competent and independent counsel, preferably
of his own choice, who shall at all times be allowed to confer
privately with the person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation. If such person cannot afford the services of his own
counsel, he must be provided with a competent and independent
counsel by the investigating officer.lawphi1
(c) The custodial investigation report shall be reduced to writing by
the investigating officer, provided that before such report is signed,
or thumbmarked if the person arrested or detained does not know
how to read and write, it shall be read and adequately explained to
him by his counsel or by the assisting counsel provided by the
investigating officer in the language or dialect known to such
arrested or detained person, otherwise, such investigation report
shall be null and void and of no effect whatsoever.
(d) Any extrajudicial confession made by a person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation shall be in writing and
signed by such person in the presence of his counsel or in the
latter's absence, upon a valid waiver, and in the presence of any of
the parents, elder brothers and sisters, his spouse, the municipal
mayor, the municipal judge, district school supervisor, or priest or
minister of the gospel as chosen by him; otherwise, such
extrajudicial confession shall be inadmissible as evidence in any
proceeding.
(e) Any waiver by a person arrested or detained under the
provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, or under
custodial investigation, shall be in writing and signed by such
person in the presence of his counsel; otherwise the waiver shall
be null and void and of no effect.
(f) Any person arrested or detained or under custodial investigation
shall be allowed visits by or conferences with any member of his
immediate family, or any medical doctor or priest or religious
minister chosen by him or by any member of his immediate family
or by his counsel, or by any national non-governmental
organization duly accredited by the Commission on Human Rights

of by any international non-governmental organization duly

accredited by the Office of the President. The person's "immediate
family" shall include his or her spouse, fianc or fiance, parent or
child, brother or sister, grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt,
nephew or niece, and guardian or ward.
As used in this Act, "custodial investigation" shall include the
practice of issuing an "invitation" to a person who is investigated in
connection with an offense he is suspected to have committed,
without prejudice to the liability of the "inviting" officer for any
violation of law.
Section 3. Assisting Counsel. Assisting counsel is any lawyer,
except those directly affected by the case, those charged with
conducting preliminary investigation or those charged with the
prosecution of crimes.
The assisting counsel other than the government lawyers shall be
entitled to the following fees;
(a) The amount of One hundred fifty pesos (P150.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with light felonies;lawphi1alf
(b) The amount of Two hundred fifty pesos (P250.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with less grave or grave felonies;
(c) The amount of Three hundred fifty pesos (P350.00) if the
suspected person is chargeable with a capital offense.
The fee for the assisting counsel shall be paid by the city or
municipality where the custodial investigation is conducted,
provided that if the municipality of city cannot pay such fee, the
province comprising such municipality or city shall pay the fee:
Provided, That the Municipal or City Treasurer must certify that no
funds are available to pay the fees of assisting counsel before the
province pays said fees.
In the absence of any lawyer, no custodial investigation shall be
conducted and the suspected person can only be detained by the
investigating officer in accordance with the provisions of Article
125 of the Revised Penal Code.
Section 4. Penalty Clause. (a) Any arresting public officer or
employee, or any investigating officer, who fails to inform any

person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation of his

right to remain silent and to have competent and independent
counsel preferably of his own choice, shall suffer a fine of Six
thousand pesos (P6,000.00) or a penalty of imprisonment of not
less than eight (8) years but not more than ten (10) years, or both.
The penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification shall also be
imposed upon the investigating officer who has been previously
convicted of a similar offense.
The same penalties shall be imposed upon a public officer or
employee, or anyone acting upon orders of such investigating
officer or in his place, who fails to provide a competent and
independent counsel to a person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation for the commission of an offense if the
latter cannot afford the services of his own counsel.
(b) Any person who obstructs, prevents or prohibits any lawyer,
any member of the immediate family of a person arrested,
detained or under custodial investigation, or any medical doctor or
priest or religious minister chosen by him or by any member of his
immediate family or by his counsel, from visiting and conferring
privately with him, or from examining and treating him, or from
ministering to his spiritual needs, at any hour of the day or, in
urgent cases, of the night shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment
of not less than four (4) years nor more than six (6) years, and a
fine of four thousand pesos (P4,000.00).lawphi1
The provisions of the above Section notwithstanding, any security
officer with custodial responsibility over any detainee or prisoner
may undertake such reasonable measures as may be necessary to
secure his safety and prevent his escape.
Section 5. Repealing Clause. Republic Act No. No. 857, as
amended, is hereby repealed. Other laws, presidential decrees,
executive orders or rules and regulations, or parts thereof
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are repealed or modified
accordingly.
Section 6. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days following its publication in the Official Gazette or in any daily
newspapers of general circulation in the Philippines.
Approved: April 27, 1992.

RULE 113
Arrest

dismissed; or (2) when the child reaches twenty-one (21) years of

age and there is no record that the child committed an offense
after reaching eighteen (18) years of age.

Section 14. Right of attorney or relative to visit person arrested.

Any member of the Philippine Bar shall, at the request of the
person arrested or of another acting in his behalf, have the right to
visit and confer privately with such person in the jail or any other
place of custody at any hour of the day or night. Subject to
reasonable regulations, a relative of the person arrested can also
exercise the same right. (14a)

Section 16. Intake Report by the Social Welfare Officer. - Upon the
taking into custody of a child in conflict with the law, the social
welfare officer assigned to the child shall immediately undertake a
preliminary background investigation of the child and, should a
case be filed in court, submit to the court the corresponding intake
report prior to the arraignment.

ARTICLE III

Section 17. Filing of Criminal Action. - A criminal action may be

instituted against a child in conflict with the law by filing a
complaint with the prosecutor.

BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 14. (1) No person shall be held to answer for a criminal
offense without due process of law.
(2) In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall be presumed
innocent until the contrary is proved, and shall enjoy the right to
be heard by himself and counsel, to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation against him, to have a speedy, impartial,
and public trial, to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have
compulsory process to secure the attendance of witnesses and the
production of evidence in his behalf. However, after arraignment,
trial may proceed notwithstanding the absence of the accused
provided that he has been duly notified and his failure to appear is
unjustifiable.

RULE ON JUVENILES IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW

Section 15. Guidelines for Fingerprinting and Photographing of
the Child. - The following guidelines shall be observed when
fingerprinting or photographing the child:
(a) The child's fingerprint and photograph files shall be kept
separate from those of adults and shall be kept confidential. They
may be inspected by law enforcement officers only when
necessary for the effective discharge of their duties and upon prior
authority of the court; and
(b) The fingerprint and photograph shall be removed from the files
and destroyed: (1) if the case against the child is not filed, or is

RULE 114
Bail
Section 26. Bail not a bar to objections on illegal arrest, lack of or
irregular preliminary investigation. An application for or
admission to bail shall not bar the accused from challenging the
validity of his arrest or the legality of the warrant issued therefor,
or from assailing the regularity or questioning the absence of a
preliminary investigation of the charge against him, provided that
he raises them before entering his plea. The court shall resolve the
matter as early as practicable but not later than the start of the
trial of the case. (n)
RULE 117
Motion to Quash
Section 1. Time to move to quash. At any time before entering
his plea, the accused may move to quash the complaint or
information. (1)
Section 3. Grounds. The accused may move to quash the
complaint or information on any of the following grounds:
(a) That the facts charged do not constitute an offense;
(b) That the court trying the case has no jurisdiction over the
offense charged;

(c) That the court trying the case has no jurisdiction over the
person of the accused;
(d) That the officer who filed the information had no authority to do
so;
(e) That it does not conform substantially to the prescribed form;
(f) That more than one offense is charged except when a single
punishment for various offenses is prescribed by law;
(g) That the criminal action or liability has been extinguished;
(h) That it contains averments which, if true, would constitute a
legal excuse or justification; and

ARTICLE 125. Delay in the Delivery of Detained Persons to the

Proper Judicial Authorities. The penalties provided in the next
preceding article shall be imposed upon the public officer or
employee who shall detain any person for some legal ground and
shall fail to deliver such person to the proper judicial authorities
within the period of one hour.
ARTICLE 126. Delaying Release. The penalties provided for in
article 124 shall be imposed upon any public officer or employee
who delays for the period of time specified therein the performance
of any judicial or executive order for the release of a prisoner or
detention prisoner, or unduly delays the service of the notice of
such order to said prisoner or the proceedings upon any petition
for the liberation of such person.

(i) That the accused has been previously convicted or acquitted of

the offense charged, or the case against him was dismissed or
otherwise terminated without his express consent. (3a)

ARTICLE III

Arbitrary Detention and Expulsion

Section 3. (1) The privacy of communication and correspondence

shall be inviolable except upon lawful order of the court, or when
public safety or order requires otherwise, as prescribed by law.

ARTICLE 124. Arbitrary Detention. Any public officer or employee

who, without legal grounds, detains a person, shall suffer:
1. The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prisin
correccional in its minimum period, if the detention has not
exceeded three days;
2. The penalty of prisin correccional in its medium and maximum
periods, if the detention has continued more than three but not
more than fifteen days;
3. The penalty of prisin mayor, if the detention has continued for
more than fifteen days but not more than six months; and
4. That of reclusin temporal, if the detention shall have exceeded
six months.
The commission of a crime, or violent insanity or any other ailment
requiring the compulsory confinement of the patient in a hospital,
shall be considered legal grounds for the detention of any person.

BILL OF RIGHTS

(2) Any evidence obtained in violation of this or the preceding

section shall be inadmissible for any purpose in any proceeding.
RULE 126
Search and Seizure
Section 14. Motion to quash a search warrant or to suppress
evidence; where to file. A motion to quash a search warrant
and/or to suppress evidence obtained thereby may be filed in and
acted upon only by the court where the action has been instituted.
If no criminal action has been instituted, the motion may be filed in
and resolved by the court that issued the search warrant. However,
if such court failed to resolve the motion and a criminal case is
subsequent filed in another court, the motion shall be resolved by
the latter court. (n)