communicates, delivers, or transmits, or attempts to, or aids or
TITLE ONE CRIMES AGAINST
NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE
LAW OF NATIONS
COMMONWEALTH ACT NO. 616
AN ACT TO PUNISH ESPIONAGE AND OTHER
OFFENSES AGAINST THE NATIONAL SECURITY
SECTION 1. Unlawfully obtaining or permitting to be
obtained information affecting national defense. — (a)
Whoever, for the purposes of obtaining information respecting
the national defense with intent or reason to believe that the
information to be obtained is to be used to the injury of the
Philippines or of the United States, or to the advantage of any
foreign nation, goes upon, enters, flies over, or otherwise
obtains information concerning any vessel, aircraft, work of
defense, navy yard, naval station, submarine base, coaling
station, fort, battery, torpedo station, dockyard, canal, railroad,
arsenal, camp, factory, mine, telegraph, telephone, wireless, or
signal station, building, office, or other place connected with
the national defense, owned or constructed, or in progress of
construction by the Philippines or by the United States or
under the control of the Philippines or of the United States, or
any of its officers or agents, or within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the Philippines or of the United States, or any
place in which any vessel, aircraft, arms, munitions, or other
materials or instruments for the use in time of war are being
made, prepared, repaired, or stored, under any contract or
agreement with the Philippines or the United States, or with
any person on behalf of the Philippines or the United States, or
otherwise on behalf of the Philippines or the United States, or
any prohibited place within the meaning of section six hereof;
or
(b) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, and with like intent or
reason to believe, copies, takes, makes, or obtains, or attempts,
or induces or aids another to copy, take, make, or obtain, any
sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blue print, plan,
map, model, instrument, appliance, document, writing, or note
of anything connected with the national defense; or
(c) Whoever, for the purpose aforesaid, receives or obtains or
agrees or attempts or induces or aids another to receive or
obtain from any person, or from any source whatever, any
document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch,
photograph, photographic negative, blue print, plan, map,
model, instrument, appliance, or note of anything connected
with the national defense, knowing or having reason to
believe, at the time he receives or obtains, or agrees or
attempts or induces or aids another to receive or obtain it, that
it has been or will be obtained, taken, made, or disposed of by
any person contrary to the provisions of this Act; or
(d) Whoever, lawfully or unlawfully having possession of,
access to, control over, or being intrusted with any document,
writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph,
photographic negative, blue print, plan, map, model,
instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense,
wilfully communicates or transmits or attempts to
communicate or transmit the same to any person not entitled to
receive it, or wilfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on
demand to the officer or employee of the Philippines or of the
United States entitled to receive it; or
(e) Whoever, being intrusted with or having lawful possession
or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book,
sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blue print, plan,
map, model, note or information, relating to the national
defense, through gross negligence permits the same to be
removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to
anyone in violation of this trust or to be lost, stolen, abstracted,
or destroyed, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more
than ten years and may, in addition thereto, be fined not more
than ten thousand pesos.
SECTION 2. Unlawful disclosing information affecting
national defense. — (a) Whoever, with the intent or reason to
believe that it is to be used to the injury of the Philippines or of
the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation,
1 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
induces another to, communicate, deliver, or transmit to any
foreign government, or any faction or party or military or
naval force within a foreign country, whether recognized or
unrecognized by the Philippines or by the United States, or to
any representative, officer, agent, employee, subject, or citizen
thereof, either directly or indirectly, any document, writing,
code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic
negative, blue print, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance,
or information relating to the national defense, shall be
punished by imprisonment for not more than twenty years, if
the offense is committed in time of peace, or by death or
imprisonment for not more than thirty years, if it is in time of
war.
(b) Whoever, in time of war with intent that the same shall be
communicated to the enemy, shall collect, record, publish, or
communicate, or attempt to elicit any information with respect
to the movement, number, description, condition, or
disposition of any of the armed forces, ships, aircraft, or war
materials of the Philippines or of the United States, or with
respect to the plans or conduct, or supposed plans or conduct
of any military, naval, or air operations, or with respect to any
works or measures undertaken for or connected with, or
intended for the fortification or defense of any place, or any
other information relating to the public defense which might
be useful to the enemy, shall be punished by death or by
imprisonment for not more than thirty years.
SECTION 3. Disloyal acts or works in time of peace. — It
shall be unlawful for any person, with intent to interfere with,
impair, or influence the loyalty, morale, or discipline of the
military, naval, or air forces of the Philippines or of the United
States: (a) to advise, counsel, urge, or in any manner cause
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any
member of the military, naval, or air forces of the Philippines
or of the United States; or (b) to distribute any written or
printed matter which advises, counsels, or urges
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty by any
member of the military, naval, or air forces of the Philippines
or of the United States. The violation of this section shall be
punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years, or by
fine not more than ten thousand pesos, or both.
SECTION 4. Disloyal acts or words in time of war. —
Whoever, when the Philippines or the United States is at war,
shall wilfully make or convey false reports or false statements
with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the
military, naval, or air forces of the Philippines or of the United
States or to promote the success of its enemies shall wilfully
cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny,
or refusal of duty, in the military, naval, or air forces of the
Philippines or the United States, or shall wilfully obstruct the
recruiting or enlistment service of the Philippines or of the
United States, to the injury of the service of the Philippines or
of the United States, shall be punished by imprisonment for
not more than twenty years, or by a fine of not more than
twenty thousand pesos, or both.
SECTION 5. Conspiracy to violate preceding sections. — If
two or more persons conspire to violate the provisions of
sections one, two, three, or four of this Act, and one or more of
such persons does any act to effect the object of the
conspiracy, each of the parties to such conspiracy shall be
punished as in said sections provided in the case of the doing
of the act the accomplishment of which is the object of such
conspiracy.
SECTION 6. Harboring or concealing violators of the law. —
Whoever harbors or conceals any person who he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed, or is
about to commit, an offense under this Act, shall be punished
by imprisonment of not more than ten years and may, in
addition thereto, be fined not more than ten thousand pesos.
SECTION 7. Designation of prohibited places by
proclamation. — The President of the Philippines in time of
war or in case of national emergency may by proclamation
designate any place other than those set forth in subsection (a)
of section one hereof in which anything for the use of the
army, navy, or air forces are being prepared or constructed or
stored as a prohibited place for the purpose of this Act:
Provided, That he shall determine that information with
respect thereto would be prejudicial to the national defense.
SECTION 8. Photographing, etc., defensive installations
regulated; penalties. — Whenever, in the interests of national
defense, the President of the Philippines shall define certain
vital military, naval, or air installations or equipment as
requiring protection against the general dissemination of
information relative thereto, it shall be unlawful to make any
photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map, or graphical
representation of such vital military, naval, and air installations
or equipment without first obtaining permission of the
commanding officer of the military, naval, or air post, camp,
or station concerned, or higher authority, and promptly
submitting the product obtained to such commanding officer
or higher authority for censorship or such other action as he
may deem necessary. Any person found guilty of a violation of
this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more
than one year, or by a fine of not more than two thousand
pesos, or both.
SECTION 9. Photographing, etc., from aircraft. — Any person
who uses or permits or procures the use of an aircraft for the
purpose of making a photograph, sketch, picture, drawing,
map, or graphical representation of vital military, naval or air
installations or equipment, in violation of section eight of this
Act, shall be liable to the penalty therein provided.
SECTION 10. Reproducing, publishing, selling, etc.,
uncensored copies. — After the President of the Philippines
shall have defined any vital military, naval, or air installation
or equipment as being within the category contemplated under
section eight of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to
reproduce, publish, sell, or give away any photograph, sketch,
picture, drawing, map or graphical representation of the vital
military, naval, or air installations or equipment so defined,
without first obtaining permission of the commanding officer
of the military, naval, or air post, camp, or station concerned,
or higher authority, unless such photograph, sketch, picture,
drawing, map, or graphical representation has clearly indicated
thereon that it has been censored by the proper military, naval,
or air authority. Any person found guilty of a violation of this
section shall be punished as provided in section eight of this
Act.
SECTION 11. Destroying or injuring or attempting to injure or
destroy war material in time of war. — When the Philippines
or the United States is at war, whoever, with intent to injure,
interfere with, or obstruct the Philippines or the United States
or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war,
or whoever, with reason to believe that his act may injure,
interfere with, or obstruct the Philippines or the United States
or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war,
shall wilfully injure or destroy, or shall attempt to so injure or
destroy, any war material, war premises, or war utilities, as
herein defined, shall be imprisoned not more than thirty years
or be fined not more than thirty thousand pesos, or both.
SECTION 12. Making or causing war material to be made in
defective manner. — When the Philippines or the United
States is at war, whoever, with intent to injure, interfere with,
or obstruct the Philippines or the United States or any
associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war, or
whoever, with reason to believe that his act may injure,
interfere with, or obstruct the Philippines or the United States
or any associate nation in preparing for or carrying on the war,
shall wilfully make or cause to be made in a defective manner,
or attempt to make or cause to be made in a defective manner,
any war material, as herein defined, or any tool, implement,
machine, utensil, or receptacle used or employed in making,
producing, manufacturing, or repairing any such war material,
as herein defined, shall be imprisoned not more than thirty
years or be fined not more than thirty thousand pesos, or both.
SECTION 13. Injuring or destroying national defense
material, premises, or utilities. — Whoever, with intent to
injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense of the
Philippines or the United States shall wilfully injure or
destroy, or shall attempt to so injure or destroy, any national
defense material, national defense premises, or national
defense utilities, as herein provided, shall be imprisoned not
2 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
more than ten years or be fined not more than ten thousand
pesos, or both.
SECTION 14. Making or causing to be made in a defective
manner, or attempting to make or cause to be made in a
defective manner, national defense material. — Whoever, with
intent to injure, interfere with, or obstruct the national defense
of the Philippines or of the United States, shall wilfully make
or cause to be made in a defective manner, or attempt to make
or cause to be made in a defective manner, any national
defense material, as herein defined, or any tool, implement,
machine, utensil, or receptacle used or employed in making,
producing, manufacturing, or repairing any such national
defense material, as herein defined, shall be imprisoned not
more than ten years, or fined not more than ten thousand
pesos, or both.
SECTION 15. Definition of terms. — The term “aircraft” as
used in this Act means any contrivance known or hereafter
invented, used, or designed for navigation or flight in the air.
The expression “post, camp, or station” as used in this Act
shall be interpreted to include naval vessels, military and naval
aircraft, and any separate military, naval or air command.
The words “war or national defense material” as used herein
shall include arms, armament, ammunition, livestock, stores of
clothing, food, foodstuffs, or fuel; and shall also include
supplies, munitions, and all other articles of whatever
description, and any part or ingredient thereof, intended for,
adapted to, or suitable for the use of the Philippines or the
United States, or any associate nation, in connection with the
conduct of war or national defense.
The words “war or national defense premises,” as used herein,
shall include all buildings, grounds, mines, or other places
wherein such war or national defense material is being
produced, manufactured, repaired, stored, mined, extracted,
distributed, loaded, unloaded, or transported, together with all
machinery and appliances therein contained; and all ports,
arsenals, navy yards, prisons, camps, or other military, naval,
or air stations of the Philippines or the United States or any
associate nation.
The words “war or national defense utilities,” as used herein,
shall include all railroads, railways, electric lines, roads of
whatever description, railroad or railway fixture, canal, lock,
dam, wharf, pier, dock, bridge, building, structure, engine,
machine, mechanical contrivance, car, vehicle, boat, or
aircraft, or any other means of transportation whatsoever,
whereon or whereby such war or national defense material or
any troops of the Philippines or of the United States, or of any
associate nation, are being or may be transported either within
the limits of the Philippines or the United States or upon the
high seas; and all dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, water and gas
mains, oil or gasoline stations, pipes, structures, and buildings,
whereby or in connection with which water, or gas, or oil, or
gasoline, or other fluid is being furnished, or may be
furnished, to any war or national defense premises or to the
military, naval, or air forces of the Philippines or the United
States, or any associate nation, and all electric light and power,
steam or pneumatic power, telephone, and telegraph plants,
poles, wires, and fixtures and wireless stations, and the
buildings connected with the maintenance and operation
thereof used to supply water, light, heat, gas, oil, gasoline,
fluid, power, or facilities of communication to any war or
national defense premises or to the military, naval, or air
forces of the Philippines or of the United States, or any
associate nation.
The words “associate nation,” as used in this chapter, shall be
deemed to mean any nation at war with any nation with which
the Philippines or the United States is at war.
The words “foreign government,” as used in this Act, shall be
deemed to include any government, faction, or body of
insurgents within a country with which the Philippines or
United States is at peace, which government, faction, or body
of insurgents may or may not have been recognized by the
Philippines or the United States as a government.
SECTION 16. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 4, 1941
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 532 August 8, 1974
ANTI-PIRACY AND ANTI-HIGHWAY ROBBERY LAW
OF 1974
WHEREAS, reports from law-enforcement agencies reveal
that lawless elements are still committing acts of depredations
upon the persons and properties of innocent and defenseless
inhabitants who travel from one place to another, thereby
distributing the peace, order and tranquility of the nation and
stunting the economic and social progress of the people;
WHEREAS, such acts of depredations constitute either piracy
or highway robbery/brigandage which are among the highest
forms of lawlessness condemned by the penal statutes of all
countries; and,
WHEREAS, it is imperative that said lawless elements be
discouraged from perpetrating such acts of depredations by
imposing heavy penalty on the offenders, with the end in view
of eliminating all obstacles to the economic, social,
educational and community progress of the people;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS,
President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in
me by the Constitution and pursuant to proclamation No.
1081, dated September 21, 1972 and No. 1104, dated January
17, 1973 and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972,
do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the land the
following:
Section 1. Title. This Decree shall be known as the Anti-
Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of 1974.
Section 2. Definition of Terms. The following terms shall
mean and be understood, as follows:
a. Philippine Waters. It shall refer to all bodies of
water, such as but not limited to, seas, gulfs, bays
around, between and connecting each of the Islands
of the Philippine Archipelago, irrespective of its
depth, breadth, length or dimension, and all other
waters belonging to the Philippines by historic or
legal title, including territorial sea, the sea-bed, the
insular shelves, and other submarine areas over
which the Philippines has sovereignty or
jurisdiction.
b. Vessel. Any vessel or watercraft used for transport
of passengers and cargo from one place to another
through Philippine Waters. It shall include all kinds
and types of vessels or boats used in fishing.
c. Philippine Highway. It shall refer to any road,
street, passage, highway and bridges or other parts
thereof, or railway or railroad within the Philippines
used by persons, or vehicles, or locomotives or trains
for the movement or circulation of persons or
transportation of goods, articles, or property or both.
d. Piracy. Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel,
or the taking away of the whole or part thereof or its
cargo, equipment, or the personal belongings of its
complement or passengers, irrespective of the value
thereof, by means of violence against or intimidation
of persons or force upon things, committed by any
person, including a passenger or member of the
complement of said vessel, in Philippine waters,
shall be considered as piracy. The offenders shall be
considered as pirates and punished as hereinafter
provided.
e. Highway Robbery/Brigandage. The seizure of any
person for ransom, extortion or other unlawful
purposes, or the taking away of the property of
3 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
another by means of violence against or intimidation
of person or force upon things of other unlawful
means, committed by any person on any Philippine
Highway.
Section 3. Penalties. Any person who commits piracy or
highway robbery/brigandage as herein defined, shall, upon
conviction by competents court be punished by:
a. Piracy. The penalty of reclusion temporal in its
medium and maximum periods shall be imposed. If
physical injuries or other crimes are committed as a
result or on the occasion thereof, the penalty of
reclusion perpetua shall be imposed. If rape, murder
or homicide is committed as a result or on the
occasion of piracy, or when the offenders abandoned
the victims without means of saving themselves, or
when the seizure is accomplished by firing upon or
boarding a vessel, the mandatory penalty of death
shall be imposed.
b. Highway Robbery/Brigandage. The penalty of
reclusion temporal in its minimum period shall be
imposed. If physical injuries or other crimes are
committed during or on the occasion of the
commission of robbery or brigandage, the penalty of
reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum
periods shall be imposed. If kidnapping for ransom
or extortion, or murder or homicide, or rape is
committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the
penalty of death shall be imposed.
Section 4. Aiding pirates or highway robbers/brigands or
abetting piracy or highway robbery/brigandage. Any person
who knowingly and in any manner aids or protects pirates or
highway robbers/brigands, such as giving them information
about the movement of police or other peace officers of the
government, or acquires or receives property taken by such
pirates or brigands or in any manner derives any benefit
therefrom; or any person who directly or indirectly abets the
commission of piracy or highway robbery or brigandage, shall
be considered as an accomplice of the principal offenders and
be punished in accordance with the Rules prescribed by the
Revised Penal Code.
It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts
provided in this Section has performed knowingly, unless the
contrary is proven.
Section 5. Repealing Clause. Pertinent portions of Act No.
3815, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code; and all
laws, decrees, or orders or instructions, or parts thereof,
insofar as they are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby
repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 6. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect upon
approval.
Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of August, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7659
AN ACT TO IMPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY ON
CERTAIN HEINOUS CRIMES, AMENDING FOR
THAT PURPOSE THE REVISED PENAL LAWS, AS
AMENDED, OTHER SPECIAL PENAL LAWS, AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 2. Article 114 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended,
is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Art. 114. Treason. - Any Filipino citizen who levies war
against the Philippines or adheres to her enemies giving
them aid or comfort within the Philippines or elsewhere,
shall be punished by reclusion perpetua to death and shall
pay a fine not to exceed 100,000 pesos."
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the
testimony of two witnesses at least to the same overt act or
on confession of the accused in open court.
Likewise, an alien, residing in the Philippines, who commits
acts of treason as defined in paragraph 1 of this Article shall
 be punished by reclusion temporal to death and shall pay a
fine not to exceed 100,000 pesos."
Approved: December 13, 1993
REPUBLIC ACT No. 6235
AN ACT PROHIBITING CERTAIN ACTS INIMICAL
TO CIVIL AVIATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Section 1. It shall be unlawful for any person to compel a
change in the course or destination of an aircraft of Philippine
registry, or to seize or usurp the control thereof, while it is in
flight. An aircraft is in flight from the moment all its external
doors are closed following embarkation until any of such
doors is opened for disembarkation.
It shall likewise be unlawful for any person to compel an
aircraft of foreign registry to land in Philippine territory or to
seize or usurp the control thereof while it is within the said
territory.
Section 2. Any person violating any provision of the foregoing
section shall be punished by an imprisonment of not less than
twelve years but not more than twenty years, or by a fine of
not less than twenty thousand pesos but not more than forty
thousand pesos.
The penalty of imprisonment of fifteen years to death, or a fine
of not less than twenty-five thousand pesos but not more than
fifty thousand pesos shall be imposed upon any person
committing such violation under any of the following
circumstances:
1. Whenever he has fired upon the pilot, member of
the crew or passenger of the aircraft;
2. Whenever he has exploded or attempted to
explode any bomb or explosive to destroy the
aircraft; or
3. Whenever the crime is accompanied by murder,
homicide, serious physical injuries or rape.
Section 3. It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or
juridical, to ship, load or carry in any passenger aircraft
operating as a public utility within the Philippines, and
explosive, flammable, corrosive or poisonous substance or
material.
Section 4. The shipping, loading or carrying of any substance
or material mentioned in the preceding section in any cargo
aircraft operating as a public utility within the Philippines shall
be in accordance with regulations issued by the Civil
Aeronautics Administration.
Section 5. As used in this Act
(1) "Explosive" shall mean any substance, either
solid or liquid, mixture or single compound, which
by chemical reaction liberates heat and gas at high
speed and causes tremendous pressure resulting in
explosion. The term shall include but not limited to
dynamites, firecrackers, blasting caps, black
powders, bursters, percussions, cartridges and other
explosive materials, except bullets for firearm.
(2) "Flammable" is any substance or material that is
highly combustible and self-igniting by chemical
reaction and shall include but not limited to acrolein,
allene, aluminum dyethyl monochloride, and other
aluminum compounds, ammonium chlorate and
other ammonium mixtures and other similar
substances or materials.
(3) "Corrosive" is any substance or material, either
liquid, solid or gaseous, which through chemical
reaction wears away, impairs or consumes any
4 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
object. It shall include but not limited to alkaline
battery fluid packed with empty storage battery, allyl
chloroformate, allytrichlorosilane, ammonium
dinitro-orthocresolate and other similar materials
and substances.
(4) "Poisonous" is any substance or materials, except
medicinal drug, either liquid, solid or gaseous, which
through chemical reactions kills, injuries or impairs
a living organism or person, and shall include but
not limited to allyl isothiocyanate, ammunition
(chemical, non-explosive but containing Class A, B
or poison), aniline oil, arsine, bromobenzyle
cyanide, bromoacetone and other similar substances
or materials.
Section 6. Any violation of Section three hereof shall be
punishable by an imprisonment of at least five years but not
more than ten years or by a fine of not less than ten thousand
pesos but not more than twenty thousand pesos: Provided,
That if the violation is committed by a juridical person, the
penalty shall be imposed upon the manager, representative,
director, agent or employee who violated, or caused, directed,
cooperated or participated in the violation
thereof: Provided, further, That in case the violation is
committed in the interest of a foreign corporation legally doing
business in the Philippines, the penalty shall be imposed upon
its resident agent, manager, representative or director
responsible for such violation and in addition thereto, the
license of said corporation to do business in the Philippines
shall be revoked.
Any violation of Section four hereof shall be an offense
punishable with the minimum of the penalty provided in the
next preceding paragraph.
Section 7. For any death or injury to persons or damage to
property resulting from a violation of Sections three and four
hereof, the person responsible therefor may be held liable in
accordance with the applicable provisions of the Revised Penal
Code.
Section 8. Aircraft companies which operate as public utilities
or operators of aircraft which are for hire are authorized to
open and investigate suspicious packages and cargoes in the
presence of the owner or shipper, or his authorized
representatives if present; in order to help the authorities in the
enforcement of the provisions of this Act: Provided, That if
the owner, shipper or his representative refuses to have the
same opened and inspected, the airline or air carrier is
authorized to refuse the loading thereof.
Section 9. Every ticket issued to a passenger by the airline or
air carrier concerned shall contain among others the following
condition printed thereon: "Holder hereof and his hand-carried
luggage(s) are subject to search for, and seizure of, prohibited
materials or substances. Holder refusing to be searched shall
not be allowed to board the aircraft," which shall constitute a
part of the contract between the passenger and the air carrier.
Section 10. The Civil Aeronautics Administration is hereby
directed to promulgate within one month after the approval of
this Act such regulations as are provided in Section four hereof
and cause the publication of such rules and regulations in the
Official Gazette and in a newspaper of national circulation for
at least once a week for three consecutive weeks. Such
regulations shall take effect fifteen days after publication in
the Official Gazette.
Section 11. This Act shall take effect after the publication
mentioned in the preceding section.
Approved: June 19, 1971
REPUBLIC ACT No. 9522 March 10, 2009
AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN PROVISIONS
OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 3046, AS AMENDED
BY REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5446, TO DEFINE THE
ARCHIPELAGIC BASELINE OF THE PHILIPPINES
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Philippines in Congress assembled::
Section 1. Section 1 of Republic Act No. 3046, entitled "An
Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the
Philippines", as amended by Section 1 of Republic Act No.
5446, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 1. The baselines of the Philippines
archipelago are hereby defined and described
specifically as follows:
Section 2. The baseline in the following areas over which the
Philippines likewise exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction
shall be determined as "Regime of Islands" under the Republic
of the Philippines consistent with Article 121 of the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):
a) The Kalayaan Island Group as constituted under
Presidential Decree No. 1596; and
b) Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough
Shoal.
Section 3. This Act affirms that the Republic of the
Philippines has dominion, sovereignty and jurisdiction over all
portions of the national territory as defined in the Constitution
and by provisions of applicable laws including, without
limitation, Republic Act No. 7160, otherwise known as the
Local Government Code of 1991, as amended.
Section 4. This Act, together with the geographic coordinates
and the chart and maps indicating the aforesaid baselines, shall
be deposited and registered with the Secretary General of the
United Nations.
Section 5. The National Mapping and Resource Information
Authority (NAMRIA) shall forthwith produce and publish
charts and maps of the appropriate scale clearly representing
the delineation of basepoints and baselines as set forth in this
Act.
Section 6. The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of
this Act shall be provided in a supplemental budyet or
included in the General Appropriations Act of the year of its
enactment into law.
Section 7. If any portion or provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional or invalid the other portions or provisions
hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in
full force and effect.
Section 8. The provisions of Republic Act No. 3046, as
amended by Republic Act No. 5446, and all other laws,
decrees, executive orders, rules and issuances inconsistent
with this Act are hereby amended or modified accordingly.
Section 9. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
following its publication in the Official Gazette or in any two
(2) newspaper of general circulation.
REPUBLIC ACT No. 9372 March 6, 2007
AN ACT TO SECURE THE STATE AND PROTECT
OUR PEOPLE FROM TERRORISM
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives
of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall henceforth be
known as the "Human Security Act of 2007."
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is declared a policy of the
State to protect life, liberty, and property from acts of
terrorism, to condemn terrorism as inimical and dangerous to
5 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
the national security of the country and to the welfare of the
people, and to make terrorism a crime against the Filipino
people, against humanity, and against the law of nations.
In the implementation of the policy stated above, the State
shall uphold the basic rights and fundamental liberties of the
people as enshrined in the Constitution.
The State recognizes that the fight against terrorism requires a
comprehensive approach, comprising political, economic,
diplomatic, military, and legal means duly taking into account
the root causes of terrorism without acknowledging these as
justifications for terrorist and/or criminal activities. Such
measures shall include conflict management and post-conflict
peace-building, addressing the roots of conflict by building
state capacity and promoting equitable economic development.
Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted as a curtailment,
restriction or diminution of constitutionally recognized powers
of the executive branch of the government. It is to be
understood, however that the exercise of the constitutionally
recognized powers of the executive department of the
government shall not prejudice respect for human rights which
shall be absolute and protected at all times.
SEC. 3. Terrorism.- Any person who commits an act
punishable under any of the following provisions of the
Revised Penal Code:
a. Article 122 (Piracy in General and Mutiny in the
High Seas or in the Philippine Waters);
b. Article 134 (Rebellion or Insurrection);
c. Article 134-a (Coup d' Etat), including acts
committed by private persons;
d. Article 248 (Murder);
e. Article 267 (Kidnapping and Serious Illegal
Detention);
f. Article 324 (Crimes Involving Destruction), or
under
1. Presidential Decree No. 1613 (The Law
on Arson);
2. Republic Act No. 6969 (Toxic
Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear
Waste Control Act of 1990);
3. Republic Act No. 5207, (Atomic Energy
Regulatory and Liability Act of 1968);
4. Republic Act No. 6235 (Anti-Hijacking
Law);
5. Presidential Decree No. 532 (Anti-
Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of
1974); and,
6. Presidential Decree No. 1866, as
amended (Decree Codifying the Laws on
Illegal and Unlawful Possession,
Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or
Disposition of Firearms, Ammunitions or
Explosives)
thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and
extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to
coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand shall
be guilty of the crime of terrorism and shall suffer the penalty
of forty (40) years of imprisonment, without the benefit of
parole as provided for under Act No. 4103, otherwise known
as the Indeterminate Sentence Law, as amended.
SEC. 4. Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism. - Persons who
conspire to commit the crime of terrorism shall suffer the
penalty of forty (40) years of imprisonment.
There is conspiracy when two or more persons come to an
agreement concerning the commission of the crime of
terrorism as defined in Section 3 hereof and decide to commit
the same.
SEC. 5. Accomplice. - Any person who, not being a principal
under Article 17 of the Revised Penal Code or a conspirator as
defined in Section 4 hereof, cooperates in the execution of
either the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism
by previous or simultaneous acts shall suffer the penalty of
from seventeen (17) years, four months one day to twenty (20)
years of imprisonment.
SEC. 6. Accessory. - Any person who, having knowledge of
the commission of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to
commit terrorism, and without having participated therein,
either as principal or accomplice under Articles 17 and 18 of
the Revised Penal Code, takes part subsequent to its
commission in any of the following manner: (a) by profiting
himself or assisting the offender to profit by the effects of the
crime; (b) by concealing or destroying the body of the crime,
or the effects, or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its
discovery; (c) by harboring, concealing, or assisting in the
escape of the principal or conspirator of the crime, shall suffer
the penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years
of imprisonment.
Notwithstanding the above paragraph, the penalties prescribed
for accessories shall not be imposed upon those who are such
with respect to their spouses, ascendants, descendants,
legitimate, natural, and adopted brothers and sisters, or
relatives by affinity within the same degrees, with the single
exception of accessories falling within the provisions of
subparagraph (a).
SEC. 7. Surveillance of Suspects and Interception and
Recording of Communications. -The provisions of Republic
Act No. 4200 (Anti-Wire Tapping Law) to the contrary
notwithstanding, a police or law enforcement official and the
members of his team may, upon a written order of the Court of
Appeals, listen to, intercept and record, with the use of any
mode, form, kind or type of electronic or other surveillance
equipment or intercepting and tracking devices, or with the use
of any other suitable ways and means for that purpose, any
communication, message, conversation, discussion, or spoken
or written words between members of a judicially declared and
outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group of
persons or of any person charged with or suspected of the
crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism.
Provided, That surveillance, interception and recording of
communications between lawyers and clients, doctors and
patients, journalists and their sources and confidential business
correspondence shall not be authorized.
SEC. 8. Formal Application for Judicial Authorization. - The
written order of the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals to track down, tap, listen to, intercept, and record
communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or
spoken or written words of any person suspected of the crime
of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism
shall only be granted by the authorizing division of the Court
of Appeals upon an ex parte written application of a police or
of a law enforcement official who has been duly authorized in
writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council created in Section 53 of
this Act to file such ex parte application, and upon
examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and the
witnesses he may produce to establish: (a) that there is
probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of
facts or circumstances that the said crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism has been committed, or is
being committed, or is about to be committed; (b) that there is
probable cause to believe based on personal knowledge of
facts or circumstances that evidence, which is essential to the
conviction of any charged or suspected person for, or to the
solution or prevention of, any such crimes, will be obtained;
and, (c) that there is no other effective means readily available
for acquiring such evidence.
6 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
SEC. 9. Classification and Contents of the Order of the
Court. - The written order granted by the authorizing division
of the Court of Appeals as well as its order, if any, to extend or
renew the same, the original application of the applicant,
including his application to extend or renew, if any, and the
written authorizations of the Anti-Terrorism Council shall be
deemed and are hereby declared as classified information:
Provided, That the person being surveilled or whose
communications, letters, papers, messages, conversations,
discussions, spoken or written words and effects have been
monitored, listened to, bugged or recorded by law enforcement
authorities has the right to be informed of the acts done by the
law enforcement authorities in the premises or to challenge, if
he or she intends to do so, the legality of the interference
before the Court of Appeals which issued the written order.
The written order of the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals shall specify the following: (a) the identity, such as
name and address, if known, of the charged or suspected
person whose communications, messages, conversations,
discussions, or spoken or written words are to be tracked
down, tapped, listened to, intercepted, and recorded and, in the
case of radio, electronic, or telephonic (whether wireless or
otherwise) communications, messages, conversations,
discussions, or spoken or written words, the electronic
transmission systems or the telephone numbers to be tracked
down, tapped, listened to, intercepted, and recorded and their
locations or if the person suspected of the crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism is not fully known, such
person shall be subject to continuous surveillance provided
there is a reasonable ground to do so; (b) the identity (name,
address, and the police or law enforcement organization) of the
police or of the law enforcement official, including the
individual identity (names, addresses, and the police or law
enforcement organization) of the members of his team,
judicially authorized to track down, tap, listen to, intercept,
and record the communications, messages, conversations,
discussions, or spoken or written words; (c) the offense or
offenses committed, or being committed, or sought to be
prevented; and, (d) the length of time within which the
authorization shall be used or carried out.
SEC. 10. Effective Period of Judicial Authorization. - Any
authorization granted by the authorizing division of the Court
of Appeals, pursuant to Section 9(d) of this Act, shall only be
effective for the length of time specified in the written order of
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, which shall
not exceed a period of thirty (30) days from the date of receipt
of the written order of the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals by the applicant police or law enforcement official.
The authorizing division of the Court of Appeals may extend
or renew the said authorization for another non-extendible
period, which shall not exceed thirty (30) days from the
expiration of the original period: Provided, That the
authorizing division of the Court of Appeals is satisfied that
such extension or renewal is in the public interest:
and Provided, further, That the ex parte application for
extension or renewal, which must be filed by the original
applicant, has been duly authorized in writing by the Anti-
Terrorism Council.
In case of death of the original applicant or in case he is
physically disabled to file the application for extension or
renewal, the one next in rank to the original applicant among
the members of the team named in the original written order of
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals shall file the
application for extension or renewal: Provided, That, without
prejudice to the liability of the police or law enforcement
personnel under Section 20 hereof, the applicant police or law
enforcement official shall have thirty (30) days after the
termination of the period granted by the Court of Appeals as
provided in the preceding paragraphs within which to file the
appropriate case before the Public Prosecutor's Office for any
violation of this Act.
If no case is filed within the thirty (30)-day period, the
applicant police or law enforcement official shall immediately
notify the person subject of the surveillance, interception and
recording of the termination of the said surveillance,
interception and recording. The penalty of ten (10) years and
one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be imposed
upon the applicant police or law enforcement official who fails
to notify the person subject of the surveillance, monitoring,
interception and recording as specified above.
SEC. 11. Custody of Intercepted and Recorded
Communications. - All tapes, discs, and recordings made
pursuant to the authorization of the authorizing division of the
Court of Appeals, including all excerpts and summaries
thereof as well as all written notes or memoranda made in
connection therewith, shall, within forty-eight (48) hours after
the expiration of the period fixed in the written order of the
authorizing division of the Court of Appeals or within forty-
eight (48) hours after the expiration of any extension or
renewal granted by the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals, be deposited with the authorizing Division of the
Court of Appeals in a sealed envelope or sealed package, as
the case may be, and shall be accompanied by a joint affidavit
of the applicant police or law enforcement official and the
members of his team.
In case of death of the applicant or in case he is physically
disabled to execute the required affidavit, the one next in rank
to the applicant among the members of the team named in the
written order of the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals shall execute with the members of the team that
required affidavit.
It shall be unlawful for any person, police officer or any
custodian of the tapes, discs and recording, and their excerpts
and summaries, written notes or memoranda to copy in
whatever form, to remove, delete, expunge, incinerate, shred
or destroy in any manner the items enumerated above in whole
or in part under any pretext whatsoever.
Any person who removes, deletes, expunges, incinerates,
shreds or destroys the items enumerated above shall suffer a
penalty of not less than six years and one day to twelve (12)
years of imprisonment.
SEC. 12. Contents of Joint Affidavit. - The joint affidavit of
the police or of the law enforcement official and the individual
members of his team shall state: (a) the number of tapes, discs,
and recordings that have been made, as well as the number of
excerpts and summaries thereof and the number of written
notes and memoranda, if any, made in connection therewith;
(b) the dates and times covered by each of such tapes, discs,
and recordings; (c) the number of tapes, discs, and recordings,
as well as the number of excerpts and summaries thereof and
the number of written notes and memoranda made in
connection therewith that have been included in the deposit;
and (d) the date of the original written authorization granted by
the Anti-Terrorism Council to the applicant to file the ex parte
application to conduct the tracking down, tapping,
intercepting, and recording, as well as the date of any
extension or renewal of the original written authority granted
by the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals.
The joint affidavit shall also certify under oath that no
duplicates or copies of the whole or any part of any of such
tapes, discs, and recordings, and that no duplicates or copies of
the whole or any part of any of such excerpts, summaries,
written notes, and memoranda, have been made, or, if made,
that all such duplicates and copies are included in the sealed
envelope or sealed package, as the case may be, deposited with
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals.
It shall be unlawful for any person, police or law enforcement
official to omit or exclude from the joint affidavit any item or
portion thereof mentioned in this Section.
Any person, police or law enforcement officer who violates
any of the acts prescribed in the preceding paragraph shall
suffer the penalty of not less than ten (10) years and one day to
twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 13. Disposition of Deposited Material. -The sealed
envelope or sealed package and the contents thereof, which are
deposited with the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals, shall be deemed and are hereby declared classified
information, and the sealed envelope or sealed package shall
not be opened and its contents (including the tapes, discs, and
recordings and all the excerpts and summaries thereof and the
7 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
notes and memoranda made in connection therewith) shall not
be divulged, revealed, read, replayed, or used as evidence
unless authorized by written order of the authorizing division
of the Court of Appeals, which written order shall be granted
only upon a written application of the Department of Justice
filed before the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals
and only upon a showing that the Department of Justice has
been duly authorized in writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council
to file the application with proper written notice the person
whose conversation, communication, message discussion or
spoken or written words have been the subject of surveillance,
monitoring, recording and interception to open, reveal,
divulge, and use the contents of the sealed envelope or sealed
package as evidence.
Any person, law enforcement official or judicial authority who
violates his duty to notify in writing the persons subject of the
surveillance as defined above shall suffer the penalty of six
years and one day to eight years of imprisonment.
SEC. 14. Application to Open Deposited Sealed Envelope or
Sealed Package. - The written application with notice to the
party concerned to open the deposited sealed envelope or
sealed package shall clearly state the purpose or reason: (a) for
opening the sealed envelope or sealed package; (b) for
revealing or disclosing its classified contents; (c) for replaying,
divulging, and or reading any of the listened to, intercepted,
and recorded communications, messages, conversations,
discussions, or spoken or written words (including any of the
excerpts and summaries thereof and any of the notes or
memoranda made in connection therewith); [ and, (d) for using
any of said listened to, intercepted, and recorded
communications, messages, conversations, discussions, or
spoken or written words (including any of the excerpts and
summaries thereof and any of the notes or memoranda made in
connection therewith) as evidence.
Any person, law enforcement official or judicial authority who
violates his duty to notify as defined above shall suffer the
penalty of six years and one day to eight years of
imprisonment.
SEC. 15. Evidentiary Value of Deposited Materials. - Any
listened to, intercepted, and recorded communications,
messages, conversations, discussions, or spoken or written
words, or any part or parts thereof, or any information or fact
contained therein, including their existence, content,
substance, purport, effect, or meaning, which have been
secured in violation of the pertinent provisions of this Act,
shall absolutely not be admissible and usable as evidence
against anybody in any judicial, quasi-judicial, legislative, or
administrative investigation, inquiry, proceeding, or hearing.
SEC. 16. Penalty for Unauthorized or Malicious
Interceptions and/or Recordings. - Any police or law
enforcement personnel who, not being authorized to do so by
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, tracks down,
taps, listens to, intercepts, and records in whatever manner or
form any communication, message, conversation, discussion,
or spoken or written word of a person charged with or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy
to commit terrorism shall be guilty of an offense and shall
suffer the penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12)
years of imprisonment.
In addition to the liability attaching to the offender for the
commission of any other offense, the penalty of ten (10) years
and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment and the
accessory penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification from
public office shall be imposed upon any police or law
enforcement personnel who maliciously obtained an authority
from the Court of Appeals to track down, tap, listen to,
intercept, and record in whatever manner or form any
communication, message, conversation, discussion, or spoken
or written words of a person charged with or suspected of the
crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism:
Provided, That notwithstanding Section 13 of this Act, the
party aggrieved by such authorization shall be allowed access
to the sealed envelope or sealed package and the contents
thereof as evidence for the prosecution of any police or law
enforcement personnel who maliciously procured said
authorization.
SEC. 17. Proscription of Terrorist Organizations,
Association, or Group of Persons. - Any organization,
association, or group of persons organized for the purpose of
engaging in terrorism, or which, although not organized for
that purpose, actually uses the acts to terrorize mentioned in
this Act or to sow and create a condition of widespread and
extraordinary fear and panic among the populace in order to
coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand shall,
upon application of the Department of Justice before a
competent Regional Trial Court, with due notice and
opportunity to be heard given to the organization, association,
or group of persons concerned, be declared as a terrorist and
outlawed organization, association, or group of persons by the
said Regional Trial Court.
SEC. 18. Period of Detention Without Judicial Warrant of
Arrest. - The provisions of Article 125 of the Revised Penal
Code to the contrary notwithstanding, any police or law
enforcement personnel, who, having been duly authorized in
writing by the Anti-Terrorism Council has taken custody of a
person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or
the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism shall, without
incurring any criminal liability for delay in the delivery of
detained persons to the proper judicial authorities, deliver said
charged or suspected person to the proper judicial authority
within a period of three days counted from the moment the
said charged or suspected person has been apprehended or
arrested, detained, and taken into custody by the said police, or
law enforcement personnel: Provided, That the arrest of those
suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism must result from the surveillance under Section 7
and examination of bank deposits under Section 27 of this Act.
The police or law enforcement personnel concerned shall,
before detaining the person suspected of the crime of
terrorism, present him or her before any judge at the latter's
residence or office nearest the place where the arrest took
place at any time of the day or night. It shall be the duty of the
judge, among other things, to ascertain the identity of the
police or law enforcement personnel and the person or persons
they have arrested and presented before him or her, to inquire
of them the reasons why they have arrested the person and
determine by questioning and personal observation whether or
not the suspect has been subjected to any physical, moral or
psychological torture by whom and why. The judge shall then
submit a written report of what he/she had observed when the
subject was brought before him to the proper court that has
jurisdiction over the case of the person thus arrested. The
judge shall forthwith submit his/her report within three
calendar days from the time the suspect was brought to his/her
residence or office.
Immediately after taking custody of a person charged with or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism, the police or law enforcement personnel shall notify
in writing the judge of the court nearest the place of
apprehension or arrest: Provided ,That where the arrest is
made during Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or after office
hours, the written notice shall be served at the residence of the
judge nearest the place where the accused was arrested.
The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years
of imprisonment shall be imposed upon the police or law
enforcement personnel who fails to notify and judge as
Provided in the preceding paragraph.
SEC. 19. Period of Detention in the Event of an Actual or
Imminent Terrorist Attack. - In the event of an actual or
imminent terrorist attack, suspects may not be detained for
more than three days without the written approval of a
municipal, city, provincial or regional official of a Human
Rights Commission or judge of the municipal, regional trial
court, the Sandiganbayan or a justice of the Court of Appeals
nearest the place of the arrest. If the arrest is made during
Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or after office hours, the
arresting police or law enforcement personnel shall bring the
person thus arrested to the residence of any of the officials
mentioned above that is nearest the place where the accused
was arrested. The approval in writing of any of the said
officials shall be secured by the police or law enforcement
personnel concerned within five days after the date of the
detention of the persons concerned: Provided, however, That
within three days after the detention the suspects, whose
8 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
connection with the terror attack or threat is not established,
shall be released immediately.
SEC. 20. Penalty for Failure to Deliver Suspect to the Proper
Judicial Authority within Three Days. - The penalty of ten
(10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment
shall be imposed upon any police or law enforcement
personnel who has apprehended or arrested, detained and
taken custody of a person charged with or suspected of the
crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism and fails
to deliver such charged or suspected person to the proper
judicial authority within the period of three days.
SEC. 21. Rights of a Person under Custodial Detention. -
The moment a person charged with or suspected of the crime
of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism is
apprehended or arrested and detained, he shall forthwith be
informed, by the arresting police or law enforcement officers
or by the police or law enforcement officers to whose custody
the person concerned is brought, of his or her right: (a) to be
informed of the nature and cause of his arrest, to remain silent
and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of
his choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel
of his or her choice, the police or law enforcement officers
concerned shall immediately contact the free legal assistance
unit of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) or the Public
Attorney's Office (PAO). It shall be the duty of the free legal
assistance unit of the IBP or the PAO thus contacted to
immediately visit the person(s) detained and provide him or
her with legal assistance. These rights cannot be waived except
in writing and in the presence of the counsel of choice; (b)
informed of the cause or causes of his detention in the
presence of his legal counsel; (c) allowed to communicate
freely with his legal counsel and to confer with them at any
time without restriction; (d) allowed to communicate freely
and privately without restrictions with the members of his
family or with his nearest relatives and to be visited by them;
and, (e) allowed freely to avail of the service of a physician or
physicians of choice.
SEC. 22. Penalty for Violation of the Rights of a Detainee. -
Any police or law enforcement personnel, or any personnel of
the police or other law enforcement custodial unit that violates
any of the aforesaid rights of a person charged with or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy
to commit terrorism shall be guilty of an offense and shall
suffer the penalty of ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12)
years of imprisonment.
Unless the police or law enforcement personnel who violated
the rights of a detainee or detainees as stated above is duly
identified, the same penalty shall be imposed on the police
officer or hear or leader of the law enforcement unit having
custody of the detainee at the time the violation was done.
SEC. 23. Requirement for an Official Custodial Logbook
and its Contents. - The police or other law enforcement
custodial unit in whose care and control the person charged
with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of
conspiracy to commit terrorism has been placed under
custodial arrest and detention shall keep a securely and orderly
maintained official logbook, which is hereby declared as a
public document and opened to and made available for .the
inspection and scrutiny of the lawyer or lawyers of the person
under custody or any member of his or her family or relative
by consanguinity or affinity within the fourth civil degree or
his or her physician at any time of the day or night without any
form of restriction. The logbook shall contain a clear and
concise record of: (a) the name, description, and address of the
detained person; (b) the date and exact time of his initial
admission for custodial arrest and detention; (c) the name and
address of the physician or physicians who examined him
physically and medically; (d) the state of his health and
physical condition at the time of his initial admission for
custodial detention; (e) the date and time of each removal of
the detained person from his cell for interrogation or for any
purpose; (f) the date and time of his return to his cell; (g) the
name and address of the physician or physicians who
physically and medically examined him after each
interrogation; (h) a summary of the physical and medical
findings on the detained person after each of such
interrogation; (i) the names and addresses of his family
members and nearest relatives, if any and if available; (j) the
names and addresses of persons, who visit the detained person;
(k) the date and time of each of such visits; (1) the date and
time of each request of the detained person to communicate
and confer with his legal counsel or counsels; (m) the date and
time of each visit, and date and time of each departure of his
legal counsel or counsels; and, (n) all other important events
bearing on and all relevant details regarding the treatment of
the detained person while under custodial arrest and detention.
The said police or law enforcement custodial unit shall upon
demand of the aforementioned lawyer or lawyers or members
of the family or relatives within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity of the person under custody or his or
her physician issue a certified true copy of the entries of the
logbook relative to the concerned detained person without
delay or restriction or requiring any fees whatsoever including
documentary stamp tax, notarial fees, and the like. This
certified true copy may be attested by the person who has
custody of the logbook or who allowed the party concerned to
scrutinize it at the time the demand for the certified true copy
is made.
The police or other law enforcement custodial unit who fails to
comply with the preceding paragraph to keep an official
logbook shall suffer the penalty of ten (10) years and one day
to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 24. No Torture or Coercion in Investigation and
Interrogation. - No threat, intimidation, or coercion, and no
act which will inflict any form of physical pain or torment, or
mental, moral, or psychological pressure, on the detained
person, which shall vitiate his freewill, shall be employed in
his investigation and interrogation for the crime of terrorism or
the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism; otherwise, the
evidence obtained from said detained person resulting from
such threat, intimidation, or coercion, or from such inflicted
physical pain or torment, or mental, moral, or psychological
pressure, shall be, in its entirety, absolutely not admissible and
usable as evidence in any judicial, quasi-judicial, legislative,
or administrative investigation, inquiry, proceeding, or
hearing.
SEC. 25. Penalty for Threat, Intimidation, Coercion, or
Torture in the Investigation and Interrogation of a Detained
Person. - Any person or persons who use threat, intimidation,
or coercion, or who inflict physical pain or torment, or mental,
moral, or psychological pressure, which shall vitiate the free-
will of a charged or suspected person under investigation and
interrogation for the crime of terrorism or the crime of
conspiracy to commit terrorism shall be guilty of an offense
and shall suffer the penalty of twelve (12) years and one day to
twenty (20) years of imprisonment.
When death or serious permanent disability of said detained
person occurs as a consequence of the use of such threat,
intimidation, or coercion, or as a consequence of the infliction
on him of such physical pain or torment, or as a consequence
of the infliction on him of such mental, moral, or
psychological pressure, the penalty shall be twelve (12) years
and one day to twenty (20) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 26. Restriction on Travel. - In cases where evidence of
guilt is not strong, and the person charged with the crime of
terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism is entitled to bail
and is granted the same, the court, upon application by the
prosecutor, shall limit the right of travel of the accused to
within the municipality or city where he resides or where the
case is pending, in the interest of national security and public
safety, consistent with Article III, Section 6 of the
Constitution. Travel outside of said municipality or city,
without the authorization of the court, shall be deemed a
violation of the terms and conditions of his bail, which shall
then be forfeited as provided under the Rules of Court.
He/she may also be placed under house arrest by order of the
court at his or her usual place of residence.
While under house arrest, he or she may not use telephones,
cellphones, e-mails, computers, the internet or other means of
communications with people outside the residence until
otherwise ordered by the court.
9 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
The restrictions abovementioned shall be terminated upon the
acquittal of the accused or of the dismissal of the case filed
against him or earlier upon the discretion of the court on
motion of the prosecutor or of the accused.
SEC. 27. Judicial Authorization Required to Examine Bank
Deposits, Accounts, and Records. - The provisions of
Republic Act No. 1405 as amended, to the contrary
notwithstanding, the justices of the Court of Appeals
designated as a special court to handle anti-terrorism cases
after satisfying themselves of the existence of probable cause
in a hearing called for that purpose that: (1) a person charged
with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or, conspiracy to
commit terrorism, (2) of a judicially declared and outlawed
terrorist organization, association, or group of persons; and (3)
of a member of such judicially declared and outlawed
organization, association, or group of persons, may authorize
in writing any police or law enforcement officer and the
members of his/her team duly authorized in writing by the
anti-terrorism council to: (a) examine, or cause the
examination of, the deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets
and records in a bank or financial institution; and (b) gather or
cause the gathering of any relevant information about such
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records from a
bank or financial institution. The bank or financial institution
concerned, shall not refuse to allow such examination or to
provide the desired information, when so, ordered by and
served with the written order of the Court of Appeals.
SEC. 28. Application to Examine Bank Deposits, Accounts,
and Records. - The written order of the Court of Appeals
authorizing the examination of bank deposits, placements,
trust accounts, assets, and records: (1) of a person charged
with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to
commit terrorism; (2) of any judicially declared and outlawed
terrorist organization, association, or group of persons, or (3)
of any member of such organization, association, or group of
persons in a bank or financial institution, and the gathering of
any relevant information about the same from said bank or
financial institution, shall only be granted by the authorizing
division of the Court of Appeals upon an ex parte application
to that effect of a police or of a law enforcement official who
has been duly authorized in writing to file such ex parte
application by the Anti-Terrorism Council created in Section
53 of this Act to file such ex parte application, and upon
examination under oath or affirmation of the applicant and, the
witnesses he may produce to establish the facts that will justify
the need and urgency of examining and freezing the bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records: (1) of
the person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism
or conspiracy to commit terrorism; (2) of a judicially declared
and outlawed terrorist organization, association or group of
persons; or (3) of any member of such organization,
association, or group of persons.
SEC. 29. Classification and Contents of the Court Order
Authorizing the Examination of Bank Deposits, Accounts,
and Records. - The written order granted by the authorizing
division of the Court of Appeals as well as its order, if any, to
extend or renew the same, the original ex parte application of
the applicant, including his ex parte application to extend or
renew, if any, and the written authorizations of the Anti-
Terrorism Council, shall be deemed and are hereby declared as
classified information: Provided, That the person whose bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records have
been examined, frozen, sequestered and seized by law
enforcement authorities has the right to be informed of the acts
done by the law enforcement authorities in the premises or to
challenge, if he or she intends to do so, the legality of the
interference. The written order of the authorizing division of
the Court of Appeals designated to handle cases involving
terrorism shall specify: (a) the identify of the said: (1) person
charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism; (2) judicially declared and
outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group of
persons; and (3) member of such judicially declared and
outlawed organization, association, or group of persons, as the
case may be. whose deposits, placements, trust accounts,
assets, and records are to be examined or the information to be
gathered; (b) the identity of the bank or financial Institution
where such deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and
records are held and maintained; (c) the identity of the persons
who will conduct the said examination and the gathering of the
desired information; and, (d) the length of time the
authorization shall be carried out.
SEC. 30. Effective Period of Court Authorization to Examine
and Obtain Information on Bank Deposits, Accounts, and
Records. - The authorization issued or granted by the
authorizing division of the Court of Appeals to examine or
cause the examination of and to freeze bank deposits,
placements, trust accounts, assets, and records, or to gather
information about the same, shall be effective for the length of
time specified in the written order of the authorizing division
of the Court of Appeals, which shall not exceed a period of
thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of the written order of
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals by the
applicant police or law enforcement official.
The authorizing division of the Court of Appeals may extend
or renew the said authorization for another period, which shall
not exceed thirty (30) days renewable to another thirty (30)
days from the expiration of the original period: Provided, That
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals is satisfied
that such extension or renewal is in the public interest: and,
Provided, further, That the application for extension or
renewal, which must be filed by the original applicant, has
been duly authorized in writing by the Anti-Terrorism
Council.
In case of death of the original applicant or in case he is
physically disabled to file the application for extension or
renewal, the one next in rank to the original applicant among
the members of the ream named in the original written order of
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals shall file the
application for extension or renewal: Provided, That, without
prejudice to the liability of the police or law enforcement
personnel under Section 19 hereof, the applicant police or law
enforcement official shall have thirty (30) days after the
termination of the period granted by the Court of Appeals as
provided in the preceding paragraphs within which to file the
appropriate case before the Public Prosecutor's Office for any
violation of this Act.
If no case is filed within the thirty (30)-day period, the
applicant police or law enforcement official shall immediately
notify in writing the person subject of the bank examination
and freezing of bank deposits, placements, trust accounts,
assets and records. The penalty of ten (10) years and one day
to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be imposed upon
the applicant police or law enforcement official who fails to
notify in writing the person subject of the bank examination
and freezing of bank deposits, placements, trust accounts,
assets and records.
Any person, law enforcement official or judicial authority who
violates his duty to notify in writing as defined above shall
suffer the penalty of six years and one day to eight years of
imprisonment.
SEC. 31. Custody of Bank Data and Information Obtained
after Examination of Deposits, Placements, Trust Accounts,
Assets and Records. - All information, data, excerpts,
summaries, notes, memoranda, working sheets, reports, and
other documents obtained from the examination of the bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and records of: (1)
a person charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or
the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism; (2) a judicially
declared and outlawed terrorist organization, association, or
group of persons; or (3) a member of any such organization,
association, or group of persons shall, within forty-eight (48)
hours after the expiration of the period fixed in the written
order of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals or
within forty-eight (48) hours after the expiration of the
extension or renewal granted by the authorizing division of the
Court of Appeals, be deposited with the authorizing division of
the Court of Appeals in a sealed envelope or sealed package,
as the case may be, and shall be accompanied by a joint
affidavit of the applicant police or law enforcement official
and the persons who actually conducted the examination of
said bank deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and
records.
SEC. 32. Contents of Joint Affidavit. - The joint affidavit
shall state: (a) the identifying marks, numbers, or symbols of
10 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
the deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records
examined; (b) the identity and address of the bank or financial
institution where such deposits, placements, trust accounts,
assets, and records are held and maintained; (c) the number of
bank deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, and records
discovered, examined, and frozen; (d) the outstanding balances
of each of such deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets; (e)
all information, data, excerpts, summaries, notes, memoranda,
working sheets, reports, documents, records examined and
placed in the sealed envelope or sealed package deposited with
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals; (f) the date of
the original written authorization granted by the Anti-
Terrorism Council to the applicant to file the ex parte
Application to conduct the examination of the said bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and records, as
well as the date of any extension or renewal of the original
written authorization granted by the authorizing division of the
Court of Appeals; and (g) that the items Enumerated were all
that were found in the bank or financial institution examined at
the time of the completion of the examination.
The joint affidavit shall also certify under oath that no
duplicates or copies of the information, data, excerpts,
summaries, notes, memoranda, working sheets, reports, and
documents acquired from the examination of the bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and records have
been made, or, if made, that all such duplicates and copies are
placed in the sealed envelope or sealed package deposited with
the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals.
It shall be unlawful for any person, police officer or custodian
of the bank data and information obtained after examination of
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and records to
copy, to remove, delete, expunge, incinerate, shred or destroy
in any manner the items enumerated above in whole or in part
under any pretext whatsoever,
Any person who copies, removes, deletes, expunges,
incinerates, shreds or destroys the items enumerated above
shall suffer a penalty of not less than six years and one day to
twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 33. Disposition of Bank Materials. - The sealed
envelope or sealed package and the contents thereof, which are
deposited with the authorizing division of the Court of
Appeals, shall be deemed and are hereby declared classified
information and the sealed envelope or sealed package shall
not be opened and its contents shall not be divulged, revealed,
read, or used as evidence unless authorized in a written order
of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, which
written order shall be granted only upon a written application
of the Department of Justice filed before the authorizing
division of the Court of Appeals and only upon a showing that
the Department of Justice has been duly authorized in writing
by the Anti-Terrorism Council to file the application, with
notice in writing to the party concerned not later than three
days before the scheduled opening, to open, reveal, divulge,
and use the contents of the sealed envelope or sealed package
as evidence.
Any person, law enforcement official or judicial authority who
violates his duty to notify in writing as defined above shall
suffer the penalty of six years and one day to eight years of
imprisonment.
SEC. 34. Application to Open Deposited Bank Materials. -
The written application, with notice in writing to the party
concerned not later than three days of the scheduled opening,
to open the sealed envelope or sealed package shall clearly
state the purpose and reason: (a) for opening the sealed
envelope or sealed package; (b) for revealing and disclosing its
classified contents; and, (c) for using the classified
information, data, excerpts, summaries, notes, memoranda,
working sheets, reports, and documents as evidence.
SEC. 35. Evidentiary Value of Deposited Bank Materials. -
Any information, data, excerpts, summaries, notes,
memoranda, work sheets, reports, or documents acquired from
the examination of the bank deposits, placements, trust
accounts, assets and records of: (1) a person charged or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy
to commit terrorism; (2) a judicially declared and outlawed
terrorist organization, association, or group of persons; or (3) a
member of such organization, association, or group of persons,
which have been secured in violation of the provisions of this
Act, shall absolutely not be admissible and usable as evidence
against anybody in any judicial, quasi-judicial, legislative, or
administrative investigation, inquiry, proceeding, or hearing.
SEC. 36. Penalty for Unauthorized or Malicious
Examination of a Bank or a Financial Institution. - Any
person, police or law enforcement personnel who examines the
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, or records in a
bank or financial institution of: (1) a person charged with or
suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy
to commit terrorism; (2) a judicially declared and outlawed
terrorist organization, association, or group of persons; or (3) a
member of such organization, association, or group of persons,
without being authorized to do so by the Court of Appeals,
shall be guilty of an offense and shall suffer the penalty of ten
(10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
In addition to the liability attaching to the offender for the
commission of any other offense, the penalty of ten (10) years
and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be
imposed upon any police or law enforcement personnel, who
maliciously obtained an authority from the Court of Appeals to
examine the deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets, or
records in a bank or financial institution of: (1) a person
charged with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism; (2) a judicially declared and
outlawed terrorist organization, association, or group of
persons; or (3) a member of such organization, association, or
group of persons: Provided, That notwithstanding Section 33
of this Act, the party aggrieved by such authorization shall
upon motion duly filed be allowed access to the sealed
envelope or sealed package and the contents thereof as
evidence for the prosecution of any police or law enforcement
personnel who maliciously procured said authorization.
SEC. 37. Penalty of Bank Officials and Employees Defying a
Court Authorization. - An employee, official, or a member of
the board of directors of a bank or financial institution, who
refuses to allow the examination of the deposits, placements,
trust accounts, assets, and records of: (1) a person charged
with or suspected of the crime of terrorism or the crime of
conspiracy to commit terrorism; (2) a judicially declared and
outlawed organization, association, or group of persons; or (3)
a member of such judicially declared and outlawed
organization, association, or group of persons in said bank or
financial institution, when duly served with the written order
of the authorizing division of the Court of Appeals, shall be
guilty of an offense and shall suffer the penalty of ten (10)
years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 38. Penalty for False or Untruthful Statement or
Misrepresentation of Material Fact in Joint Affidavits. - Any
false or untruthful statement or misrepresentation of material
fact in the joint affidavits required respectively in Section 12
and Section 32 of this Act shall constitute a criminal offense
and the affiants shall suffer individually the penalty of ten (10)
years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 39. Seizure and Sequestration. - The deposits and their
outstanding balances, placements, trust accounts, assets, and
records in any bank or financial institution, moneys,
businesses, transportation and communication equipment,
supplies and other implements, and property of whatever kind
and nature belonging: (1) to any person suspected of or
charged before a competent Regional Trial Court for the crime
of terrorism or the crime of conspiracy to commit terrorism;
(2) to a judicially declared and outlawed organization,
association, or group of persons; or (3) to a member of such
organization, association, or group of persons shall be seized,
sequestered, and frozen in order to prevent their use, transfer,
or conveyance for purposes that are inimical to the safety and
security of the people or injurious to the interest of the State.
The accused or a person suspected of may withdraw such sums
as may be reasonably needed by the monthly needs of his
family including the services of his or her counsel and his or
her family's medical needs upon approval of the court. He or
she may also use any of his property that is under seizure or
sequestration or frozen because of his/her indictment as a
11 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
terrorist upon permission of the court for any legitimate
reason.
Any person who unjustifiably refuses to follow the order of the
proper division of the Court of Appeals to allow the person
accused of the crime of terrorism or of the crime of conspiracy
to commit terrorism to withdraw such sums from sequestered
or frozen deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and
records as may be necessary for the regular sustenance of
his/her family or to use any of his/her property that has been
seized, sequestered or frozen for legitimate purposes while
his/her case is pending shall suffer the penalty of ten (10)
years and one day to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 40. Nature of Seized. Sequestered and Frozen Bank
Deposits, Placements, Trust Accounts, Assets and Records. -
The seized, sequestered and frozen bank deposits, placements,
trust accounts, assets and records belonging to a person
suspected of or charged with the crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism shall be deemed as property
held in trust by the bank or financial institution for such person
and the government during the pendency of the investigation
of the person suspected of or during the pendency of the trial
of the person charged with any of the said crimes, as the case
may be and their use or disposition while the case is pending
shall be subject to the approval of the court before which the
case or cases are pending.
SEC. 41. Disposition of the Seized, Sequestered and Frozen
Bank Deposits, Placements, Trust Accounts, Assets and
Record. - If the person suspected of or charged with the crime
of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism is found, after
his investigation, to be innocent by the investigating body, or
is acquitted, after his arraignment or his case is dismissed
before his arraignment by a competent court, the seizure,
sequestration and freezing of his bank deposits, placements,
trust accounts, assets and records shall forthwith be deemed
lifted by the investigating body or by the competent court, as
the case may be, and his bank deposits, placements, trust
accounts, assets and records shall be deemed released from
such seizure, sequestration and freezing, and shall be restored
to him without any delay by the bank or financial institution
concerned without any further action on his part. The filing of
any appeal on motion for reconsideration shall not state the
release of said funds from seizure, sequestration and freezing.
If the person charged with the crime of terrorism or conspiracy
to commit terrorism is convicted by a final judgment of a
competent trial court, his seized, sequestered and frozen bank
deposits, placements, trust accounts, assets and records shall
be automatically forfeited in favor of the government.
Upon his or her acquittal or the dismissal of the charges
against him or her, the amount of Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500.000.00) a day for the period in which his properties,
assets or funds were seized shall be paid to him on the concept
of liquidated damages. The amount shall be taken from the
appropriations of the police or law enforcement agency that
caused the filing of the enumerated charges against him/her.
SEC. 42. Penalty for Unjustified Refusal to Restore or Delay
in Restoring Seized, Sequestered and Frozen Bank Deposits,
Placements, Trust Accounts, Assets and Records. - Any
person who unjustifiably refuses to restore or delays the
restoration of seized, sequestered and frozen bank deposits,
placements, trust accounts, assets and records of a person
suspected of or charged with the crime of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism after such suspected person
has been found innocent by the investigating body or after the
case against such charged person has been dismissed or after
he is acquitted by a competent court shall suffer the penalty of
ten (10) years and one day to twelve (12) years of
imprisonment.
SEC. 43. Penalty for the Loss, Misuse, Diversion or
Dissipation of Seized, Sequestered and Frozen Bank
Deposits, Placements, Trust Accounts, Assets and Records. -
Any person who is responsible for the loss, misuse, diversion,
or dissipation of the whole or any part of the seized,
sequestered and frozen bank deposits, placements, trust
accounts, assets and records of a person suspected of or
charged with the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism shall suffer the penalty of ten (10) years and one day
to twelve (12) years of imprisonment.
SEC. 44. Infidelity in the Custody of Detained Persons. -
Any public officer who has direct custody of a detained person
or under the provisions of this Act and who by his deliberate
act, misconduct, or inexcusable negligence causes or allows
the escape of such detained person shall be guilty of an offense
and shall suffer the penalty of: (a) twelve (12) years and one
day to twenty (20) years of imprisonment, if the detained
person has already been convicted and sentenced in a final
judgment of a competent court; and (b) six years and one day
to twelve (12) years of imprisonment, if the detained person
has not been convicted and sentenced in a final judgment of a
competent court.
SEC. 45. Immunity and Protection of Government
Witnesses. - The provisions of Republic Act No. 6981
(Witness Protection, Security and Benefits Act) to the contrary
notwithstanding, the immunity of government witnesses
testifying under this Act shall be governed by Sections 17 and
18 of Rule 119 of the Rules of Court: Provided, however, That
said witnesses shall be entitled to benefits granted to witnesses
under said Republic Act No.6981.
SEC. 46. Penalty for Unauthorized Revelation of Classified
Materials. - The penalty of ten (10) years and one day to
twelve (12) years of imprisonment shall be imposed upon any
person, police or law enforcement agent, judicial officer or
civil servant who, not being authorized by the Court of
Appeals to do so, reveals in any manner or form any classified
information under this Act.
SEC. 47. Penalty for Furnishing False Evidence, Forged
Document, or Spurious Evidence. - The penalty of twelve
(12) years and one day to twenty (20) years of imprisonment
shall be imposed upon any person who knowingly furnishes
false testimony, forged document or spurious evidence in any
investigation or hearing under this Act.
SEC. 48. Continuous Trial. - In cases of terrorism or
conspiracy to commit terrorism, the judge shall set the
continuous trial on a daily basis from Monday to Friday or
other short-term trial calendar so as to ensure speedy trial.
SEC. 49. Prosecution Under This Act Shall be a Bar to
Another Prosecution under the Revised Penal Code or any
Special Penal Laws. - When a person has been prosecuted
under a provision of this Act, upon a valid complaint or
information or other formal charge sufficient in form and
substance to sustain a conviction and after the accused had
pleaded to the charge, the acquittal of the accused or the
dismissal of the case shall be a bar to another prosecution for
any offense or felony which is necessarily included in the
offense charged under this Act.
SEC. 50. Damages for Unproven Charge of Terrorism. -
Upon acquittal, any person who is accused of terrorism shall
be entitled to the payment of damages in the amount of Five
hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) for every day that he or
she has been detained or deprived of liberty or arrested without
a warrant as a result of such an accusation. The amount of
damages shall be automatically charged against the
appropriations of the police agency or the Anti-Terrorism
Council that brought or sanctioned the filing of the charges
against the accused. It shall also be released within fifteen (15)
days from the date of the acquittal of the accused. The award
of damages mentioned above shall be without prejudice to the
right of the acquitted accused to file criminal or administrative
charges against those responsible for charging him with the
case of terrorism.
Any officer, employee, personnel, or person who delays the
release or refuses to release the amounts awarded to the
individual acquitted of the crime of terrorism as directed in the
paragraph immediately preceding shall suffer the penalty of
six months of imprisonment.
If the deductions are less than the amounts due to the detained
persons, the amount needed to complete the compensation
12 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
shall be taken from the current appropriations for intelligence,
emergency, social or other funds of the Office of the President.
In the event that the amount cannot be covered by the current
budget of the police or law enforcement agency concerned, the
amount shall be automatically included in the appropriations
of the said agency for the coming year.
SEC. 51. Duty to Record and Report the Name and Address
of the Informant. - The police or law enforcement officers to
whom the name or a suspect in the crime of terrorism was first
revealed shall record the real name and the specific address of
the informant.
The police or law enforcement officials concerned shall report
the informant's name and address to their superior officer who
shall transmit the information to the Congressional Oversight
Committee or to the proper court within five days after the
suspect was placed under arrest or his properties were
sequestered, seized or frozen.
The name and address of the informant shall be considered
confidential and shall not be unnecessarily revealed until after
the proceedings against the suspect shall have been terminated.
SEC. 52. Applicability of the Revised Penal Code. - The
provisions of Book I of the Revised Penal Code shall be
applicable to this Act.
SEC. 53. Anti-Terrorism Council. - An Anti-Terrorism
Council, hereinafter referred to, for brevity, as the "Council,"
is hereby created. The members of the Council are: (1) the
Executive Secretary, who shall be its Chairperson; (2) the
Secretary of Justice, who shall be its Vice Chairperson; and (3)
the Secretary of Foreign Affairs; (4) the Secretary of National
Defense; (5) the Secretary of the Interior and Local
Government; (6) the Secretary of Finance; and (7) the National
Security Advisor, as its other members.
The Council shall implement this Act and assume the
responsibility for the proper and effective implementation of
the anti-terrorism policy of the country. The Council shall
keep records of its proceedings and decisions. All records of
the Council shall be subject to such security classifications as
the Council may, in its judgment and discretion, decide to
adopt to safeguard the safety of the people, the security of the
Republic, and the welfare of the nation.
The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency shall be the
Secretariat of the Council. The Council shall define the
powers, duties, and functions of the National Intelligence
Coordinating Agency as Secretariat of the Council. The
National Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Immigration,
the Office of Civil Defense, the Intelligence Service of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Anti-Money Laundering
Council, the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime, and
the Philippine National Police intelligence and investigative
elements shall serve as support agencies for the Council.
The Council shall formulate and adopt comprehensive,
adequate, efficient, and effective anti-terrorism plans,
programs, and counter-measures to suppress and eradicate
terrorism in the country and to protect the people from acts of
terrorism. Nothing herein shall be interpreted to empower the
Anti-Terrorism Council to exercise any judicial or quasi-
judicial power or authority.
SEC. 54. Functions of the Council. - In pursuit of its mandate
in the previous Section, the Council shall have the following
functions with due regard for the rights of the people as
mandated by the Constitution and pertinent laws:
1. Formulate and adopt plans, programs and counter-
measures against terrorists and acts of terrorism in
the country;
2. Coordinate all national efforts to suppress and
eradicate acts of terrorism in the country and
mobilize the entire nation against terrorism
prescribed in this Act;
 3. Direct the speedy investigation and prosecution of
all persons accused or detained for the crime of
terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism and
other offenses punishable under this Act, and
monitor the progress of their cases;
4. Establish and maintain comprehensive data-base
information system on terrorism, terrorist activities,
and counter-terrorism operations;
5. Freeze the funds property, bank deposits,
placements, trust accounts, assets and records
belonging to a person suspected of or charged with
the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism, pursuant to Republic Act No. 9160,
otherwise known as the Anti-Money Laundering Act
of 2001, as amended;
6. Grant monetary rewards and other incentives to
informers who give vital information leading to the
apprehension, arrest, detention, prosecution, and
conviction of person or persons who are liable for
the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit
terrorism;
7. Establish and maintain coordination with and the
cooperation and assistance of other nations in the
struggle against international terrorism; and
8. Request the Supreme Court to designate specific
divisions of the Court of Appeals and Regional Trial
Courts in Manila, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro
City, as the case may be, to handle all cases
involving the crime of terrorism or conspiracy to
commit terrorism and all matters incident to said
crimes. The Secretary of Justice shall assign a team
of prosecutors from: (a) Luzon to handle terrorism
cases filed in the Regional Trial Court in Manila; (b)
from the Visayas to handle cases filed in Cebu City;
and (c) from Mindanao to handle cases filed in
Cagayan de Oro City.
SEC. 55. Role of the Commission on Human Rights. - The
Commission on Human Rights shall give the highest priority
to the investigation and prosecution of violations of civil and
political rights of persons in relation to the implementation of
this Act; and for this purpose, the Commission shall have the
concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute public officials, law
enforcers, and other persons who may have violated the civil
and political rights of persons suspected of, or detained for the
crime of terrorism or conspiracy to commit terrorism.
SEC. 56. Creation of a Grievance Committee. - There is
hereby created a Grievance Committee composed of the
Ombudsman, as chair, and the Solicitor General, and an
undersecretary from the Department of Justice (DOJ), as
members, to receive and evaluate complaints against the
actuations of the police and law enforcement officials in the
implementation of this Act. The Committee shall hold office in
Manila. The Committee shall have three subcommittees that
will be respectively headed by the Deputy Ombudsmen in
Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. The subcommittees shall
respectively hold office at the Offices of Deputy Ombudsman.
Three Assistant Solicitors General designated by the Solicitor
General, and the regional prosecutors of the DOJ assigned to
the regions where the Deputy Ombudsmen hold office shall be
members thereof. The three subcommittees shall assist the
Grievance Committee in receiving, investigating and
evaluating complaints against the police and other law
enforcement officers in the implementation of this Act. If the
evidence warrants it, they may file the appropriate cases
against the erring police and law enforcement officers. Unless
seasonably disowned or denounced by the complainants,
decisions or judgments in the said cases shall preclude the
filing of other cases based on the same cause or causes of
action as those that were filed with the Grievance Committee
or its branches.
SEC. 57. Ban on Extraordinary Rendition. - No person
suspected or convicted of the crime of terrorism shall be
subjected to extraordinary rendition to any country unless his
13 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
or her testimony is needed for terrorist related police
investigations or judicial trials in the said country and unless
his or her human rights, including the right against torture, and
right to counsel, are officially assured by the requesting
country and transmitted accordingly and approved by the
Department of Justice.
SEC. 58. Extra-Territorial Application of this Act. - Subject
to the provision of an existing treaty of which the Philippines
is a signatory and to any contrary provision of any law of
preferential application, the provisions of this Act shall apply:
(1) to individual persons who commit any of the crimes
defined and punished in this Act within the terrestrial domain,
interior waters, maritime zone, and airspace of the Philippines;
(2) to individual persons who, although physically outside the
territorial limits of the Philippines, commit, conspire or plot to
commit any of the crimes defined and punished in this Act
inside the territorial limits of the Philippines; (3) to individual
persons who, although physically outside the territorial limits
of the Philippines, commit any of the said crimes on board
Philippine ship or Philippine airship; (4) to individual persons
who commit any of said crimes within any embassy,
consulate, or diplomatic premises belonging to or occupied by
the Philippine government in an official capacity; (5) to
individual persons who, although physically outside the
territorial limits of the Philippines, commit said crimes against
Philippine citizens or persons of Philippines descent, where
their citizenship or ethnicity was a factor in the commission of
the crime; and (6) to individual persons who, although
physically outside the territorial limits of the Philippines,
commit said crimes directly against the Philippine
government.
SEC. 59. Joint Oversight Committee. - There is hereby
created a Joint Oversight Committee to oversee the
implementation of this Act. The Oversight Committee shall be
composed of five members each from the Senate and the
House in addition to the Chairs of the Committees of Public
Order of both Houses who shall also Chair the Oversight
Committee in the order specified herein. The membership of
the Committee for every House shall at least have two
opposition or minority members. The Joint Oversight
Committee shall have its own independent counsel. The Chair
of the Committee shall rotate every six months with the Senate
chairing it for the first six months and the House for the next
six months. In every case, the ranking opposition or minority
member of the Committee shall be the Vice Chair. Upon the
expiration of one year after this Act is approved by the
President, the Committee shall review the Act particularly the
provision that authorize the surveillance of suspects of or
persons charged with the crime of terrorism. To that end, the
Committee shall summon the police and law enforcement
officers and the members of the Anti-Terrorism Council and
require them to answer questions from the members of
Congress and to submit a written report of the acts they have
done in the implementation of the law including the manner in
which the persons suspected of or charged with the crime of
terrorism have been dealt with in their custody and from the
date when the movements of the latter were subjected to
surveillance and his or her correspondences, messages,
conversations and the like were listened to or subjected to
monitoring, recording and tapping. Without prejudice to its
submitting other reports, the Committee shall render a
semiannual report to both Houses of Congress. The report may
include where necessary a recommendation to reassess the
effects of globalization on terrorist activities on the people,
provide a sunset clause to or amend any portion of the Act or
to repeal the Act in its entirety. The courts dealing with anti-
terrorism cases shall submit to Congress and the President a
report every six months of the status of anti-terrorism cases
that have been filed with them starting from the date this Act is
implemented.
SEC. 60. Separability Clause. - If for any reason any part or
provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid,
the other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected
thereby shall remain and continue to be in full force and effect.
SEC. 61. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive
orders, rules or regulations or parts thereof, inconsistent with
the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or
modified accordingly.
SEC. 62. Special Effectivity Clause. - After the bill shall have
been signed into law by the President, the Act shall be
published in three newspapers of national circulation; three
newspapers of local circulation, one each in llocos Norte,
Baguio City and Pampanga; three newspapers of local
circulation, one each in Cebu, lloilo and Tacloban; and three
newspapers of local circulation, one each in Cagayan de Oro,
Davao and General Santos city.
The title of the Act and its provisions defining the acts of
terrorism that are punished shall be aired everyday at
primetime for seven days, morning, noon and night over three
national television and radio networks; three radio and
television networks, one each in Cebu, Tacloban and lloilo;
and in five radio and television networks, one each in Lanao
del Sur, Cagayan de Oro, Davao City, Cotabato City and
Zamboanga City. The publication in the newspapers of local
circulation and the announcements over local radio and
television networks shall be done in the dominant language of
the community. After the publication required above shall
have been done, the Act shall take effect two months after the
elections are held in May 2007. Thereafter, the provisions of
this Act shall be automatically suspended one month before
and two months as after the holding of any election.
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9851
AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES
AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW,
GENOCIDE AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY, ORGANIZING JURISDICTION,
DESIGNATING SPECIAL COURTS, AND FOR
RELATED PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Philippines in Congress assembled:
CHAPTER I violence between governmental authorities and
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as
the "Philippine Act on Crimes Against International
Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against
Humanity".
Section 2. Declaration of Principles and State Policies. -
(a) The Philippines renounces war as an instrument
of national policy, adopts the generally accepted
principles of international law as part of the law of
the land and adheres to a policy of peace, equality,
justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all
nations.
(b) The state values the dignity of every human
person and guarantees full respect for human rights,
including the rights of indigenous cultural
communities and other vulnerable groups, such as
women and children;
(c) It shall be the responsibility of the State and all
other sectors concerned to resolved armed conflict in
order to promote the goal of "Children as Zones of
Peace";
(d) The state adopts the generally accepted
principles of international law, including the Hague
Conventions of 1907, the Geneva Conventions on
the protection of victims of war and international
humanitarian law, as part of the law our nation;
(e) The most serious crimes of concern to the
international community as a whole must not go
unpunished and their effective prosecution must be
ensured by taking measures at the national level, in
order to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators
of these crimes and thus contribute to the prevention
of such crimes, it being the duty of every State to
exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those
responsible for international crimes;
14 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(f) The State shall guarantee persons suspected or
accused of having committed grave crimes under
international law all rights necessary to ensure that
their trial will be fair and prompt in strict accordance
with national and international law and standards for
fair trial, It shall also protect victims, witnesses and
their families, and provide appropriate redress to
victims and their families, It shall ensure that the
legal systems in place provide accessible and
gender-sensitive avenues of redress for victims of
armed conflict, and
(g)The State recognizes that the application of the
provisions of this Act shall not affect the legal status
of the parties to a conflict, nor give an implied
recognition of the status of belligerency
CHAPTER II
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Section 3. For purposes of this Act, the term:
(a) "Apartheid' means inhumane acts committed in
the context of an institutionalized regime of
systematic oppression and domination by one racial
group or groups and committed with the intention of
maintaining that regime
(b) "Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of
population" means forced displacement of the
persons concerned by expultion by expulsion or
other coercive acts from the area in which they are
lawfully present, without grounds permitted under
domestic or international law.
(c) "Armed conflict" means any use of force or
armed violence between States or a protracted armed
organized armed groups or between such groups
within that State: Provided, That such force or armed
violence gives rise, or may give rise, to a situation to
which the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,
including their common Article 3, apply. Armed
conflict may be international, that is, between two
(2) or more States, including belligerent occupation;
or non-international, that is, between governmental
authorities and organized armed groups or between
such groups within a state. It does not cover internal
disturbances or tensions such as riots, isolated and
sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar
nature.
(d) "Armed forces" means all organized armed
forces, groups and units that belong to a party to an
armed conflict which are under a command
responsible to that party for the conduct of its
subordinates. Such armed forces shall be subject to
an internal disciplinary system which enforces
compliance with International Humanitarian Law
(e) "Attack directed against any civilian population"
means a course of conduct involving the multiple
commission of acts referred to in Section 6 of this
Act against any civilian population, pursuant to or in
furtherance of a State or organizational policy to
commit such attack.
(f) "Effective command and control" or " effective
authority and control" means having the material
ability to prevent and punish the commission of
offenses by subordinates.
(g) "Enforced or involuntary disappearance of
persons" means the arrest, detention, or abduction of
persons by, or with the authorization support or
acquiescence of, a State or a political organization
followed by a refusal to acknowledge that
deprivation of freedom or to give information on the
fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the
intention of removing from the protection of the law
for a prolonged period of time
 (h) "Enslavement" means the exercise of any or all
of the powers attaching to the right of ownership
over a person and includes the exercise of such
power in the course of trafficking in persons, in
particular women and children.
(i) "Extermination" means the international infliction
of conditions of life, inter alia, the deprivation of
access to food and medicine, calculated to bring
about the destruction of a part of a population.
(j) " Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful
confinement of a women to be forcibly made
pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic
composition of any population carrying out other
grave violations of international law.
(k) "Hors de Combat" means a person who:
(1) is in the power of an adverse party;
(2) has clearly expressed an intention to
surrender; or
(3) has been rendered unconscious or
otherwise incapacitated by wounds or
sickness and therefore is incapable of
defending himself: Provided, that in any of
these cases, the person form any hostile act
and does not attempt to escape.
(l) "Military necessity" means the necessity of
employing measures which are indispensable to
achieve a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not
otherwise prohibited by International Humanitarian
Law
(m) "Non-defended locality" means a locality that
fulfills the following conditions:
(1) all combatants, as well as mobile
weapons and mobile military equipment,
must have been evacuated;
(2) no hostile use of fixed military
installations or establishments must have
been made;
(3) no acts of hostility must have been
committed by the authorities or by the
population; and
(4) no activities in support of military
operations, must have been undertaken.
(n) "No quarter will be given' means refusing to
spare the life of anybody, even of persons manifestly
unable to defend themselves or who clearly express
their intention to surrender.
(o) "Perfidy" means acts which invite the confidence
of an adversary to lead him/her to believe he/she is
entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under
the rules of International Humanitarian Law, with
the intent to betray that confidence, including but not
limited to:
(1) feigning an intent to negotiate under a
flag of truce;
(2) feigning surrender;
(3) feigning incapacitation by wounds or
sickness;
(4) feigning civilian or noncombatant
status; and
15 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(5) feigning protective status by use of
signs, emblems or uniforms of the United
Nations or of a neutral or other State not
party to the conflict.
(p) "Persecution" means the international and severe
deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to
international law by reason of identity of the group
or collectivity.
(q) "Protect person" in an armed conflict means:
(1) a person wounded, sick or
shipwrecked, whether civilian or military;
(2) a prisoner of war or any person
deprived of liberty for reasons related to
an armed conflict;
(3) a civilian or any person not taking a
direct part or having ceased to take part in
the hostilities in the power of the adverse
party;
(4) a person who, before the beginning of
hostilities, was considered a stateless
person or refugee under the relevant
international instruments accepted by the
parties to the conflict concerned or under
the national legislation of the state of
refuge or state of residence;
(5) a member of the medical personnel
assigned exclusively to medical purposes
or to the administration of medical units or
to the operation of or administration of
medical transports; or
(6) a member of the religious personnel
who is exclusively engaged in the work of
their ministry and attached to the armed
forces of a party to the conflict, its medical
units or medical transports, or non-
denominational, noncombatant military
personnel carrying out functions similar to
religious personnel.
(r) " Superior" means:
(1) a military commander or a person
effectively acting as a military
commander; or
(2) any other superior, in as much as the
crimes arose from activities within the
effective authority and control of that
superior.
(s) "Torture" means the intentional infliction of
severe pain or suffering, whether physical, mental,
or psychological, upon a person in the custody or
under the control of the accused; except that torture
shall not include pain or suffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.
(t) "Works and installations containing dangerous
forces" means works and installations the attack of
which may cause the release of dangerous forces and
consequent severe losses among the civilian
population, namely: dams, dikes, and nuclear,
electrical generation stations.
CHAPTER III
CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL
HUMANITARIAN LAW,
GENOCIDE AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST
HUMANITY
Section 4. War Crimes. - For the purpose of this Act, "war
crimes" or "crimes against Interntional Human Humanitarian
Law" means:
(a) In case of an international armed conflict , grave
breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949, namely, any of the following acts against
persons or property protected under provisions of the
relevant Geneva Convention:
(1) Willful killing;
(2) Torture or inhuman treatment,
including biological experiments;
(3) Willfully causing great suffering, or
serious injury to body or health;
(4) Extensive destruction and
appropriation of property not justified by
military necessity and carried out
unlawfully and wantonly;
(5) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war
or other protected person of the rights of
fair and regular trial;
(6) Arbitrary deportation or forcible
transfer of population or unlawful
confinement;
(7) Taking of hostages;
(8) Compelling a prisoner a prisoner of
war or other protected person to serve in
the forces of a hostile power; and
(9) Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation
of prisoners of war or other protected
persons.
(b) In case of a non-international armed conflict,
serious violations of common Article 3 to the four
(4) Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely
, any of the following acts committed against
persons taking no active part in the hostilities,
including member of the armed forces who have laid
down their arms and those placed hors de combat by
sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause;
(1) Violence to life and person, in
particular, willful killings, mutilation,
cruel treatment and torture;
(2) Committing outrages upon personal
dignity, in particular, humiliating and
degrading treatment;
(3) Taking of hostages; and
(4) The passing of sentences and the
carrying out of executions without
previous judgment pronounced by a
regularly constituted court, affording all
judicial guarantees which are generally
recognized as indispensable.
(c) Other serious violations of the laws and customs
applicable in armed conflict, within the established
framework of international law, namely:
(1) Internationally directing attacks against
the civilian population as such or against
individual civilians not taking direct part
in hostilities;
16 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(2) Intentionally directing attacks against
civilian objects, that is, object which are
not military objectives;
(3) Intentionally directing attacks against
buildings, material, medical units and
transport, and personnel using the
distinctive emblems of the Geneva
Conventions or Additional Protocol III in
conformity with intentional law;
(4) Intentionally directing attacks against
personnel, installations, material, units or
vehicles involved in a humanitarian
assistance or peacekeeping mission in
accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations, as ling as they are entitled to the
protection given to civilians or civilian
objects under the international law of
armed conflict;
(5) Launching an attack in the knowledge
that such attack will cause incidental loss
of life or injury to civilians or damage to
civilian objects or widespread, long-term
and severe damage to the natural
environment which would be excessive in
relation to the concrete and direct military
advantage anticipated;
(6) Launching an attack against works or
installations containing dangerous forces
in the knowledge that such attack will
cause excessive loss of life, injury to
civilians or damage to civilian objects, and
causing death or serious injury to body or
health .
(7) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever
means, towns, villages, dwellings or
buildings which are undefended and which
are not military objectives, or making non-
defended localities or demilitarized zones
the object of attack;
(8) Killing or wounding a person in the
knowledge that he/she is hors de
combat, including a combatant who,
having laid down his/her arms or no longer
having means of defense, has surrendered
at discretion;
(9) Making improper use of a flag of truce,
of the flag or the military insignia and
uniform of the enemy or of the United
Nations, as well as of the distinctive
emblems of the Geneva Conventions or
other protective signs under International
Humanitarian Law, resulting in death,
serious personal injury or capture;
(10) Intentionally directing attacks against
buildings dedicated to religion, education,
art, science or charitable purposes, historic
monuments, hospitals and places where
the sick and wounded are collected,
provided they are not military objectives.
In case of doubt whether such building or
place has been used to make an effective
contribution to military action, it shall be
presumed not to be so used;
(11) Subjecting persons who are in the
power of an adverse party to physical
mutilation or to medical or scientific
experiments of any kind, or to removal of
tissue or organs for transplantation, which
are neither justified by the medical, dental
or hospital treatment of the person
concerned nor carried out in his/her
interest, and which cause death to or
 seriously endanger the health of such
person or persons;
(12) Killing, wounding or capturing an
adversary by resort to perfidy;
(13) Declaring that no quarter will be
given;
(14) Destroying or seizing the enemy's
property unless such destruction or seizure
is imperatively demanded by the
necessities of war;
(15) Pillaging a town or place, even when
taken by assault;
(16) Ordering the displacements of the
civilian population for reasons related to
the conflict, unless the security of the
civilians involved or imperative military
reasons so demand;
(17) Transferring, directly or indirectly, by
the occupying power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it
occupies, or the deportation or transfer of
all or parts of the population of the
occupied territory within or outside this
territory;
(18) Commiting outrages upon personal
dignity, in particular, humiliating and
degrading treatments;
(19) Commiting rape, sexual slavery,
enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy,
enforced sterilization, or any other form of
sexual violence also constituting a grave
breach of the Geneva Conventions or a
serious violation of common Article 3 to
the Geneva Convensions;
(20) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or
other protected person to render certain
points, areas or military forces immune
from military operations;
(21) Intentionally using starvation of
civilians as a method of warfare by
depriving them of objects indespensable to
their survival, including willfully
impeding relief supplies as provided for
under the Geneva Conventions and their
Additional Protocols;
(22) In an international armed conflict,
compelling the nationals of the hostile
party to take part in the operations of war
directed against their own country, even if
they were in the belligerent's service
before the commencement of the war;
(23) In an international armed conflict,
declaring abolished, suspended or
inadmissible in a court of law the rights
and actions of the nationals of the hostile
party;
(24) Commiting any of the following acts:
(i) Conscripting, enlisting or
recruiting children under the age
of fifteen (15) years into the
national armed forces;
(ii) Conscripting, enlisting or
recruiting children under the age
of eighteen (18) years into an
17 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
armed force or group other than
the national armed forces; and
(iii) Using children under the
age of eighteen (18) years to
participate actively in hostilities;
and
(25) Employing means of warfare which
are prohibited under international law,
such as:
(i) Poison or poisoned weapons;
(ii) Asphyxiating, poisonous or
other gases, and all analogous
liquids, materials or devices;
(iii) Bullets which expand or
flatten easily in the human body,
such as bullets with hard
envelopes which do not entirely
cover the core or are pierced
with incisions; and
(iv) Weapons, projectiles and
material and methods of warfare
which are of the nature to cause
superfluous injury or unecessary
suffering or which are inherently
indiscriminate in violation of the
international law of armed
conflict.
Any person found guilty of commiting any of the
acts specified herein shall suffer the penalty
provided under Section 7 of this Act.
Section 5. Genocide - (a) For the purpose of this Act,
"genocide" means any of the following acts with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, religious,
social or any other similar stable and permanent group as such:
(1) Killing members of the group;
(2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm
to members of the group;
(3) Deliberately inflicting on the group
conditions of life calculated to bring about
its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(4) Imposing measures intended to prevent
births within the group; and
(5) Forcibly transferring children of the
group to another group.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to directly and
publicly incite others to commit genocide.
Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts
specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section shall suffer
the penalty provided under Section 7 of this Act.
Section 6. Other Crimes Against Humanity. - For the purpose
of this act, "other crimes against humanity" means any of the
following acts when committed as part of a widespread or
systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with
knowledge of the attack:
(a) Willful killing;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
 (d) Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of
population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of
physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of
international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution,
forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other
form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(h) Persecution against any identifiable group or
collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender, sexual orientation or
other grounds that are universally recognized as
impermissible under international law, in connection
with any act referred to in this paragraph or any
crime defined in this Act;
(i) Enforced or involuntary disappearance of
persons;
(j) Apartheid; and
(k) Other inhumane acts of a similar character
intentionally causing great suffering, or serious
injury to body or to mental or physical health.
Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts
specified herein shall suffer the penalty provided under
Section 7 of this Act.
CHAPTER IV
PENAL PROVISIONS
Section 7. Penalties. - Any person found guilty of committing
any of the acts provided under Sections 4, 5 and 6 of this Act
shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium to
maximum period and a fine ranging from One hundred
thousand pesos (Php 100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand
pesos (Php 500,000.00).
When justified by the extreme gravity of the crime, especially
where the commision of any of the crimes specified herein
results in death or serious physical injury, or constitutes rape,
and considering the individual circumstances of the accused,
the penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine ranging from Five
hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00) to One million
pesos (Php 1,000,000.00) shall be imposed.
Any person found guilty of inciting others to commit genocide
referred to in Section 5(b) of this Act shall suffer the penalty
of prision mayor in its minimum period and a fine ranging
from Ten thousand pesos (Php 10,000.00) to Twenty thousand
pesos (Php 20,000.00).
In addition, the court shall order the forfeiture of proceeds,
property and assets derived, directly or indirectly, from that
crime, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third (3rd)
parties. The court shall also impose the corresponding
accessory penalties under the Revised Penal Code, especially
where the offender is a public officer.
CHAPTER V subordinates under his/her effective command and control, or
SOME PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY
Section 8. Individual Criminal Responsibilities. - (a) In
addition to existing provisions in Philippine law on principles
of criminal responsibility, a person shall be criminally liable as
principal for a crime defined and penalized in this Act if
he/she:
(1) Commits such a crime, whether as an
individual, jointly with another or through
another person, regardless of whether that
other person is criminally responsible;
18 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(2) Orders, solicits or induces the
commission of such a crime which in fact
occurs or is attempted;
(3) In any other way contributes to the
commission or attempted commission of
such a crime by a group of person acting
with a common purpose. Such contribution
shall be intentional and shall either:
(i) be made with the aim of
furthering the criminal activity
or criminal purpose of the group,
where such activity or purpose
involves the commission of a
crime defined in this Act; or
(ii) be made in the knowledge of
the intention of the group to
commit the crime.
(b) A person shall be criminally liable as accomplice
for facilitating the commission of a crime defined
and penalized in this Act if he/she aids, abets or
otherwise assists in its commission or attempted
commission, including providing the means for its
commission.
(c) A person shall be criminally liable for a crime
defined and penalized in this Act if he/she attempts
to commit such a crime by taking action that
commences its execution by means of a substantial
step, but the crime does not occur because of
circumstances independent of the person's intention.
However, a person who abandons the effort to
commit the crime or otherwise prevents the
completion of the crime shall not be liable for
punishment under this Act for the attempt to commit
the same if he/she completely and voluntarily gave
up the criminal purpose.
Section 9. Irrelevance of Official Capacity. - This Act shall
apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on
official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a head of
state or government, a member of a government or parliament,
an elected representative or a government official shall in no
case exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this
Act, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for
reduction of sentence. However:
(a) Immunities or special procedural rules that may
be attached to the official capacity of a person under
Philippine law other than the established
constitutional immunity from suit of the Philippine
President during his/her tenure, shall not bar the
court from exercising jurisdiction over such a
person; and
(b) Immunities that may be attached to the official
capacity of a person under international law may
limit the application of this Act, nut only within the
bounds established under international law.
Section 10. Responsibility of Superiors. - In addition to other
grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes defined and
penalized under this Act, a superior shall be criminally
responsible as a principal for such crimes committed by
effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result
of his/her failure to properly exercise control over such
subordinates, where:
(a) That superior either knew or, owing to the
circumstances at the time, should have known that
the subordinates were committing or about to
commit such crimes;
(b) That superior failed to take all necessary and
reasonable measures within his/her power to prevent
or repress their commission or to submit the matter
 to the competent authorities for investigation and
prosecution.
Section 11. Non-prescription. - The crimes defined and
penalized under this Act, their prosecution, and the execution
of sentences imposed on their account, shall not be subject to
any prescription.
Section 12. Orders from a Superior. - The fact that a crime
defined and penalized under this Act has been committed by a
person pursuant to an order of a government or a superior,
whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of
criminal responsibility unless all of the following elements
occur:
(a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey
orders of the government or the superior in question;
(b) The person did not know that the order was
unlawful; and
(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.
For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or
other crimes against humanity are manifestly unlawful.
CHAPTER VI
Protection of Victims and Witnesses
Section 13. Protection of Victims and Witnesses. - In addition
to existing provisions in Philippine law for the protection of
victims and witnesses, the following measures shall be
undertaken:
(a) The Philippine court shall take appropriate
measures to protect the safety, physical and
physiological well-being, dignity and privacy of
victims and witnesses. In so doing, the court shall
have regard of all relevant factors, including age,
gender and health, and the nature of the crime, in
particular, but not limited to, where the crime
involves sexual or gender violence or violence
against children. The prosecutor shall take such
measures particularly during the investigation and
prosecution of such crimes. These measures shall not
be prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the
accused and to a fair and impartial trial;
(b) As an exception to the general principle of public
hearings, the court may, to protect the victims and
witnesses or an accused, conduct any part of the
proceedings in camera or allow the presentation of
evidence by electronic or other special means. In
particular, such measures shall be implemented in
the case of the victim of sexual violence or a child
who is a victim or is a witness, unless otherwise
ordered by the court, having regard to all the
circumstances, particularly the views of the victim or
witness;
(c) Where the personal interests of the victims are
affected, the court shall permit their views and
concerns to be presented and considered at stages of
the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the
court in manner which is not prejudicial to or
inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair
and impartial trial. Such views and concerns may be
presented by the legal representatives of the victims
where the court considers it appropriate in
accordance with the established rules of procedure
and evidence; and
(d) Where the disclosure of evidence or information
pursuant to this Act may lead to the grave
endangerment of the security of a witness for his/her
family, the prosecution may, for the purposes of any
proceedings conducted prior to the commencement
of the trial, withhold such evidence or information
and instead submit a summary thereof. Such
measures shall be exercised in a manner which is not
19 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the
accused and to a fair and impartial trial.
Section 14. Reparations to Victims. - In addition to existing
provisions in Philippine law and procedural rules for
reparations to victims, the following measures shall be
undertaken:
(a) The court shall follow the principles relating to
the reparations to, or in respect of, victims,including
restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. On this
basis, in its decision, the court may, wither upon
request or on its own motion in exceptional
circumstances, determine the scope and extent of
any damage, loss and injury to, or in respect of,
victims and state the principles on which it is
acting;1avvphi1
(b) The court may make an order directly against a
convicted person specifying appropriate reparations
to, or in respect of, victims, including restitution,
compensation and rehabilitation; and
(c) Before making an order under this section, the
court may invite and shall take account of
representations from or on behalf of the convicted
person, victims or other interested persons.
Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prejudicing the
rights of victims under national or international law.
CHAPTER VII
Applicability of International Law and Other Laws
Section 15. Applicability of International Law.- In the
application and interpretation of this Act, Philippine courts
shall be guided by the following sources:
(a) The 1948 Genocide Convention;
(b) The 1949 Genava Conventions I-IV, their 1977
Additional Protocols I and II and their 2005
Additional Protocol III;
(c) The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of
Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, its
First Protocol and its 1999 Second Protocol;
(d) The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
and its 2000 Optional Protocol on the Involvement
of Children in Armed Conflict;
(e) The rules and principles of customary
international law;
(f) The judicial decisions of international courts and
tribunals;
(g) Relevant and applicable international human
rights instruments;
(h) Other relevant international treaties and
conventions ratified or acceded to by the Republic of
the Philippines; and
(i) Teachings of the most highly qualified publicists
and authoritative commentaries on the foregoing
sources as subsidiary means for the determination of
rules of international law.
Section 16. Suppletory Application of the Revised Penal Code
and Other General or Special Laws. - The provisions of the
Revised Penal Code and other general or special laws shall
have a suppletory application to the provisions of this Act.
CHAPTER VII
JURISDICTION

Section 17. Jurisdiction.- The State shall exercise jurisdiction

over persons, whether military or civilian, suspected or
accused of a crime defined and penalized in this Act,
regardless of where the crime is committed, provided, any one
of the following conditions is met:

(a) The accused is a Filipino citizen;

(b) The accused, regardless of citizenship or

residence, is present in the Philippines; or

(c) The accused has committed the said crime

against a Filipino citizen.

In the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities

may dispense with the investigation or prosecution of a crime
punishable under this Act if another court or international
tribunal is already conducting the investigation or undertaking
the prosecution of such crime. Instead, the authorities may
surrender or extradite suspected or accused persons in the
Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to
another State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and
treaties.

No criminal proceedings shall be initiated against foreign

nationals suspected or accused of having committed the crimes
defined and penalized in this Act if they have been tried by a
competent court outside the Philippines in respect of the same
offense and acquitted, or having been convicted, already
served their sentence.

Section 18. Philippine Court, Prosecutors and Investigators. -

The Regional Trial Court of the Philippines shall have original
and exclusive jurisdiction over the crimes punishable under
this Act. Their judgments may be appealed or elevated to the
Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court as provided by
law.

The Supreme Court shall designate special courts to try cases

involving crimes punishable under this Act. For these cases,
the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Justice,
the Philippine National Police or other concerned law
enforcement agencies shall designate prosecutors or
investigators as the case may be.

The State shall ensure that judges, prosecutors and

investigators, especially those designated for purposes of this
Act, receive effective training in human rights, International
Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law.

CHAPTER IX
FINAL PROVISIONS

Section 19. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason or

reasons, any part or provision of this Statute shall be held to be
unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions hereof
which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force
and effect.

Section 20. Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees

and issuances, executive orders, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Statute are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 21. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days after its complete publication in the Official Gazette or in
two (2) newspapers general circulation.

20 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
TITLE TWO – CRIMES AGAINST
FUNDAMENTAL LAWS OF THE
STATE
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10353
AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING ENFORCED
OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the Philippines in Congress assembled:
Section 1. Short Title. –This Act shall be known as the "Anti-
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012″.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. –The State values the dignity
of every human person and guarantees full respect for human
rights for which highest priority shall be given to the
enactment of measures for the enhancement of the right of all
people to human dignity, the prohibition against secret
detention places, solitary confinement, incommunicado, or
other similar forms of detention, the provision for penal and
civil sanctions for such violations, and compensation and
rehabilitation for the victims and their families, particularly
with respect to the use of torture, force, violence, threat,
intimidation or any other means which vitiate the free will of
persons abducted, arrested, detained, disappeared or otherwise
removed from the effective protection of the law.
Furthermore, the State adheres to the principles and standards
on the absolute condemnation of human rights violations set
by the 1987 Philippine Constitution and various international
instruments such as, but not limited to, the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which the
Philippines is a State party.
Section 3. Definitions. –For purposes of this Act, the
following terms shall be defined as follows:
(a) Agents of the State refer to persons who, by
direct provision of the law, popular election or
appointment by competent authority, shall take part
in the performance of public functions in the
government, or shall perform in the government or
in any of its branches public duties as an employee,
agent or subordinate official, of any rank or class.
(b) Enforced or involuntary disappearance refers to
the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of
deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the
State or by persons or groups of persons acting with
the authorization, support or acquiescence of the
State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the
deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate
or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which
places such person outside the protection of the law.
(c) Order of Battle refers to a document made by the
military, police or any law enforcement agency of
the government, listing the names of persons and
organizations that it perceives to be enemies of the
State and which it considers as legitimate targets as
combatants that it could deal with, through the use of
means allowed by domestic and international law.
(d) Victim refers to the disappeared person and any
individual who has suffered harm as a direct result
of an enforced or involuntary disappearance as
defined in letter (b) of this Section.
Section 4. Nonderogability of the Right Against Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearance. –The right against enforced or
involuntary disappearance and the fundamental safeguards for
its prevention shall not be suspended under any circumstance
including political instability, threat of war, state of war or
other public emergencies.
21 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
Section 5. "Order of Battle" or Any Order of Similar Nature,
Not Legal Ground, for Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance. – An "Order of Battle" or any order of similar
nature, official or otherwise, from a superior officer or a public
authority causing the commission of enforced or involuntary
disappearance is unlawful and cannot be invoked as a
justifying or exempting circumstance. Any person receiving
such an order shall have the right to disobey it.
Section 6. Right of Access to Communication. – It shall be the
absolute right of any person deprived of liberty to have
immediate access to any form of communication available in
order for him or her to inform his or her family, relative,
friend, lawyer or any human rights organization on his or her
whereabouts and condition.
Section 7. Duty to Report Victims of Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance. – Any person, not being a principal,
accomplice or accessory, who has an information of a case of
enforced or involuntary disappearance or who shall learn of
such information or that a person is a victim of enforced or
involuntary disappearance, shall immediately report in writing
the circumstances and whereabouts of the victim to any office,
detachment or division of the Department of the Interior and
Local Government (DILG), the Department of National
Defense (DND), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the National Bureau
of Investigation (NBI), the City or Provincial Prosecutor, the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) or any human rights
organization and, if known, the victim’s family, relative, or
lawyer.
Section 8. Duty to Certify in Writing on the Results of Inquiry
into a Reported Disappeared Person’s Whereabouts. –In case
a family member, relative, lawyer, representative of a human
rights organization or a member of the media inquires with a
member or official of any police or military detention center,
the PNP or any of its agencies, the AFP or any of its agencies,
the NBI or any other agency or instrumentality of the
government, as well as any hospital or morgue, public or
private, on the presence or whereabouts of a reported victim of
enforced or involuntary disappearance, such member or
official shall immediately issue a certification in writing to the
inquiring person or entity on the presence or absence and/or
information on the whereabouts of such disappeared person,
stating, among others, in clear and unequivocal manner the
date and time of inquiry, details of the inquiry and the
response to the inquiry.
Section 9. Duty of Inquest/Investigating Public Prosecutor or
any Judicial or Quasi-Judicial Official or Employee. –Any
inquest or investigating public prosecutor, or any judicial or
quasi-judicial official or employee who learns that the person
delivered for inquest or preliminary investigation or for any
other judicial process is a victim of enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall have the duty to immediately disclose the
victim’s whereabouts to his or her immediate family, relatives,
lawyer/s or to a human rights organization by the most
expedient means.
Section 10. Official Up-to-Date Register of All Persons
Detained or Confined. - All persons detained or confined shall
be placed solely in officially recognized and controlled places
of detention or confinement where an official up-to-date
register of such persons shall be maintained. Relatives,
lawyers, judges, official bodies and all persons who have
legitimate interest in the whereabouts and condition of the
persons deprived of liberty shall have free access to the
register.
The following details, among others, shall be recorded, in the
register:
(a) The identity or name, description and address of
the person deprived of liberty;
(b) The date, time and location where the person was
deprived of liberty and the identity of the person
who made such deprivation of liberty;
 (c) The authority who decided the deprivation of
liberty and the reasons for the deprivation of liberty
or the crime or offense committed;
(d) The authority controlling the deprivation of
liberty;
(e) The place of deprivation of liberty, the date and
time of admission to the place of deprivation of
liberty and the authority responsible for the place of
deprivation of liberty;
(f) Records of physical, mental and psychological
condition of the detained or confined person before
and after the deprivation of liberty and the name and
address of the physician who examined him or her
physically, mentally and medically;
(g) The date and time of release or transfer of the
detained or confined person to another place of
detention, the destination and the authority
responsible for the transfer;
(h) The date and time of each removal of the
detained or confined person from his or her cell, the
reason or purpose for such removal and the date and
time of his or her return to his or her cell;
(i) A summary of the physical, mental and medical
findings of the detained or confined person after
each interrogation;
(j) The names and addresses of the persons who visit
the detained or confined person and the date and
time of such visits and the date and time of each
departure;
(k) In the event of death during the deprivation of
liberty, the identity, the circumstances and cause of
death of the victim as well as the destination of the
human remains; and
(l) All other important events bearing on and all
relevant details regarding the treatment of the
detained or confined person.
Provided, That the details required under letters (a) to (f) shall
be entered immediately in the register upon arrest and/or
detention.
All information contained in the register shall be regularly or
upon request reported to the CHR or any other agency of
government tasked to monitor and protect human rights and
shall be made available to the public.
Section 11. Submission of List of Government Detention
Facilities. –Within six (6) months from the effectivity of this
Act and as may be requested by the CHR thereafter, all
government agencies concerned shall submit an updated
inventory or list of all officially recognized and controlled
detention or confinement facilities, and the list of detainees or
persons deprived of liberty under their respective jurisdictions
to the CHR.
Section 12. Immediate Issuance and Compliance of the Writs
of Habeas Corpus, Amparo and Habeas Data. – All
proceedings pertaining to the issuance of the writs of habeas
corpus, amparo and habeas data shall be dispensed with
expeditiously. As such, all courts and other concerned
agencies of government shall give priority to such
proceedings.
Moreover, any order issued or promulgated pursuant to such
writs or their respective proceedings shall be executed and
complied with immediately.
Section 13. Visitation /Inspection of Places of Detention and,
Confinement. –The CHR or its duly authorized representatives
are hereby mandated and authorized to conduct regular,
22 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to or
inspection of all places of detention and confinement.
Section 14. Liability of Commanding Officer or Superior. -
The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of
the AFP or the immediate senior official of the PNP and other
law enforcement agencies shall be held liable as a principal to
the crime of enforced or involuntary disappearance for acts
committed by him or her that shall have led, assisted, abetted
or allowed, whether directly or indirectly, the commission
thereof by his or her subordinates. If such commanding officer
has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the time,
should have known that an enforced or involuntary
disappearance is being committed, or has been committed by
subordinates or by others within the officer’s area of
responsibility and, despite such knowledge, did not take
preventive or coercive action either before, during or
immediately after its commission, when he or she has the
authority to prevent or investigate allegations of enforced or
involuntary disappearance but failed to prevent or investigate
such allegations, whether deliberately or due to negligence,
shall also be held liable as principal.
Section 15. Penal Provisions. – (a) The penalty of reclusion
perpetua and its accessory penalties shall be imposed upon the
following persons:
(1) Those who directly committed the act of
enforced or involuntary disappearance;
(2) Those who directly forced, instigated,
encouraged or induced others to commit the act of
enforced or involuntary disappearance;
(3) Those who cooperated in the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance by committing another
act without which the act of enforced or involuntary
disappearance would not have been consummated;
(4) Those officials who allowed the act or abetted in
the consummation of enforced or involuntary
disappearance when it is within their power to stop
or uncover the commission thereof; and
(5) Those who cooperated in the execution of the act
of enforced or involuntary disappearance by
previous or simultaneous acts.
(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal and its accessory
penalties shall be imposed upon those who shall commit the
act of enforced or involuntary disappearance in the attempted
stage as provided for and defined under Article 6 of the
Revised Penal Code.
(c) The penalty of reclusion temporal and its accessory
penalties shall also be imposed upon persons who, having
knowledge of the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance
and without having participated therein, either as principals or
accomplices, took part subsequent to its commission in any of
the following manner:
(1) By themselves profiting from or assisting the
offender to profit from the effects of the act of
enforced or involuntary disappearance;
(2) By concealing the act of enforced or involuntary
disappearance and/or destroying the effects or
instruments thereof in order to prevent its discovery;
or
(3) By harboring, concealing or assisting in the
escape of the principal/s in the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance, provided such accessory
acts are done with the abuse of official functions.
(d) The penalty of prision correctional and its accessory
penalties shall be imposed against persons who defy, ignore or
unduly delay compliance with any order duly issued or
promulgated pursuant to the writs of habeas corpus,
amparo and habeas data or their respective proceedings.
(e) The penalty of arresto mayor and its accessory penalties
shall be imposed against any person who shall violate the
provisions of Sections 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of this Act.
Section 16. Preventive Suspension/Summary Dismissal. –
Government officials and personnel who are found to be
perpetrators of or participants in any manner in the
commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance as a
result of a preliminary investigation conducted for that purpose
shall be preventively suspended or summarily dismissed from
the service, depending on the strength of the evidence so
presented and gathered in the said preliminary investigation or
as may be recommended by the investigating authority.
Section 17. Civil Liability. –The act of enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall render its perpetrators and the State
agencies which organized, acquiesced in or tolerated such
disappearance liable under civil law.
Section 18. Independent Liability. –The criminal liability of
the offender under this Act shall be independent of or without
prejudice to the prosecution and conviction of the said
offender for any violation of Republic Act No. 7438,
otherwise known as "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’; Republic Act No. 9745, otherwise known as "An
Act Penalizing Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Prescribing Penalties
Therefor"; and applicable provisions of the Revised Penal
Code.
Section 19. Nonexclusivity or Double Jeopardy Under
International Law. – Any investigation, trial and decision in
any Philippines court, or body for any violation of this Act
shall; be without prejudice to any investigation, trial, decision
or any other legal or administrative process before any
appropriate international court or agency under applicable
international human rights and humanitarian law.
Section 20. Exemption from Prosecution. – Any offender who
volunteers information that leads to the discovery of the victim
of enforced or involuntary disappearance or the prosecution of
the offenders without the victim being found shall be exempt
from any criminal and/or civil liability under this
Act: Provided, That said offender does not appear to be the
most guilty.
Section 21. Continuing Offense. – An act constituting enforced
or involuntary disappearance shall be considered a continuing
offense as long as the perpetrators continue to conceal the fate
and whereabouts of the disappeared person and such
circumstances have not been determined with certainty.
Section 22. Statue of Limitations Exemption. – The
prosecution of persons responsible for enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall not prescribe unless the victim surfaces
alive. In which case, the prescriptive period shall be twenty-
five (25) years from the date of such reappearance.
Section 23. Special Amnesty Law Exclusion. – Persons who
are changed with and/or guilty of the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance shall not benefit from any special
amnesty law or other similar executive measures that shall
exempt them from any penal proceedings or sanctions.
Section 24. State Protection – The State, through its
appropriate agencies, shall ensure the safety of all persons
involved in the search, investigation and prosecution of
enforced or involuntary disappearance including, but not
limited to, the victims, their families, complainants, witnesses,
legal counsel and representatives of human rights
organizations and media. They shall likewise be protected
from any intimidation or reprisal.
Section 25. Applicability of Refouler. –No 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 subjected to enforced or involuntary
disappearance. For purposes of determining whether such
23 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
grounds exist, the Secretary of the Department, of Foreign
Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the Department of Justice
(DOJ) in coordination with the Chairperson of the CHR, shall
take into account all relevant considerations including where
applicable and not limited to, the existence in the requesting
State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights.
Section 26. Restitution and Compensation to Victims of
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and/or Their
Immediate Relatives. –The victims of enforced or involuntary
disappearance who surface alive shall be entitled to monetary
compensation, rehabilitation and restitution of honor and
reputation. Such restitution of honor and reputation shall
include immediate expunging or rectification of any
derogatory record, information or public declaration/statement
on his or her person, personal circumstances, status, and/or
organizational affiliation by the appropriate government or
private agency or agencies concerned.
The immediate relatives of a victim of enforced or involuntary
disappearance, within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity
or affinity, may also claim for compensation as provided for
under Republic Act No. 7309, entitled "An Act Creating a
Board of Claims under the Department of Justice for Victims
of Unjust Imprisonment or Detention and Victims of Violent
Crimes and For Other Purposes", and other relief programs of
the government.
The package of indemnification for both the victims and the
immediate relatives within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity shall be without prejudice to other
legal remedies that may be available to them.
Section 27. Rehabilitation of Victims and/or Their Immediate
Relatives, and Offenders. – In order that the victims of
enforced or involuntary disappearance who surfaced alive
and/or their immediate relatives within the fourth civil degree
of consanguinity or affinity, may be effectively reintegrated
into the mainstream of society and in the process of
development, the State, through the CHR, in coordination with
the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) and the concerned nongovernment
organization/s, shall provide them with appropriate medical
care and rehabilitation free of charge.
Toward the attainment of restorative justice, a parallel
rehabilitation program for persons who have committed
enforced or involuntary disappearance shall likewise be
implemented without cost to such offenders.
Section 28. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within
thirty (30) days from the effectivity of this Act, the DOJ, the
DSWD, the CHR, the Families of Victims of Involuntary
Disappearance (FIND) and the Families of Desaparecidos for
Justice (Desaparecidos), in consultation with other human
rights organizations, shall jointly promulgate the rules and
regulations for the effective implementation of this Act and
shall ensure the full dissemination of the same to the public.
Section 29. Suppletory Applications. – The applicable
provisions of the Revised Penal Code shall have suppletory
application insofar as they are consistent with the provisions of
this Act.
Section 30. Appropriations. –The amount of Ten million pesos
(P10,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated for the initial
implementation of this Act by the CHR. Subsequent fluids for
the continuing implementation of this Act shall be included in
the respective budgets of the CHR and the DOJ in the annual
General Appropriations Act.
Section 31. Separability Clause. –If for any reason, any
section or provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or
invalid, such other sections or provisions not affected thereby
shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 32. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive
orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or parts
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby
repealed, amended or modified accordingly.
Section 33. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect
fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2)
newspapers of general circulation or the Official
Gazette, which shall not be later than seven (7) days after the
approval thereof.
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.lawphi1Ÿ
(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
24 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
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, fiancé or fiancée, 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;lawphi1©alf
(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.
BATAS PAMBANSA BLG. 880
AN ACT ENSURING THE FREE EXERCISE BY THE
PEOPLE OF THEIR RIGHT PEACEABLY TO
ASSEMBLE AND PETITION THE GOVERNMENT
FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. Title - This Act shall be known as "The Public
Assembly Act of 1985."
Section 2. Declaration of policy - The constitutional right of
the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government
for redress of grievances is essential and vital to the strength
and stability of the State. To this end, the State shall ensure the
free exercise of such right without prejudice to the rights of
others to life, liberty and equal protection of the law.
Section 3. Definition of terms - For purposes of this Act:
(a) "Public assembly" means any rally,
demonstration, march, parade, procession or any
other form of mass or concerted action held in a
public place for the purpose of presenting a lawful
cause; or expressing an opinion to the general public
on any particular issue; or protesting or influencing
any state of affairs whether political, economic or
social; or petitioning the government for redress of
grievances.
The processions, rallies, parades, demonstrations,
public meetings and assemblages for religious
purposes shall be governed by local ordinances:
Provided, however, That the declaration of policy as
provided in Section 2 of this Act shall be faithfully
observed.
The definition herein contained shall not include
picketing and other concerted action in strike areas
by workers and employees resulting from a labor
dispute as defined by the Labor Code, its
implementing rules and regulations, and by the Batas
Pambansa Bilang 227.
(b) "Public place" shall include any highway,
boulevard, avenue, road, street, bridge or other
thoroughfare, park, plaza, square, and/or any open
space of public ownership where the people are
allowed access.
(c) "Maximum tolerance" means the highest degree
of restraint that the military, police and other peace
keeping authorities shall observe during a public
assembly or in the dispersal of the same.
(d) "Modification of permit" shall include the change
of the place and time of the public assembly,
rerouting of the parade or street march, the volume
of loud-speakers or sound system and similar
changes.
Section 4. Permit when required and when not required - A
written permit shall be required for any person or persons to
organize and hold a public assembly in a public place.
However, no permit shall be required if the public assembly
25 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
shall be done or made in a freedom park duly established by
law or ordinance or in private property, in which case only the
consent of the owner or the one entitled to its legal possession
is required, or in the campus of a government-owned and
operated educational institution which shall be subject to the
rules and regulations of said educational institution. Political
meetings or rallies held during any election campaign period
as provided for by law are not covered by this Act.
Section 5. Application requirements - All applications for a
permit shall comply with the following guidelines:
(a) The applications shall be in writing and shall
include the names of the leaders or organizers; the
purpose of such public assembly; the date, time and
duration thereof, and place or streets to be used for
the intended activity; and the probable number of
persons participating, the transport and the public
address systems to be used.
(b) The application shall incorporate the duty and
responsibility of applicant under Section 8 hereof.
(c) The application shall be filed with the office of
the mayor of the city or municipality in whose
jurisdiction the intended activity is to be held, at
least five (5) working days before the scheduled
public assembly.
(d) Upon receipt of the application, which must be
duly acknowledged in writing, the office of the city
or municipal mayor shall cause the same to
immediately be posted at a conspicuous place in the
city or municipal building.
Section 6. Action to be taken on the application -
(a) It shall be the duty of the mayor or any official
acting in his behalf to issue or grant a permit unless
there is clear and convincing evidence that the public
assembly will create a clear and present danger to
public order, public safety, public convenience,
public morals or public health.
(b) The mayor or any official acting in his behalf
shall act on the application within two (2) working
days from the date the application was filed, failing
which, the permit shall be deemed granted. Should
for any reason the mayor or any official acting in his
behalf refuse to accept the application for a permit,
said application shall be posted by the applicant on
the premises of the office of the mayor and shall be
deemed to have been filed.
(c) If the mayor is of the view that there is imminent
and grave danger of a substantive evil warranting the
denial or modification of the permit, he shall
immediately inform the applicant who must be heard
on the matter.
(d) The action on the permit shall be in writing and
served on the application within twenty-four hours.
(e) If the mayor or any official acting in his behalf
denies the application or modifies the terms thereof
in his permit, the applicant may contest the decision
in an appropriate court of law.
(f) In case suit is brought before the Metropolitan
Trial Court, the Municipal Trial Court, the
Municipal Circuit Trial Court, the Regional Trial
Court, or the Intermediate Appellate Court, its
decisions may be appealed to the appropriate court
within forty-eight (48) hours after receipt of the
same. No appeal bond and record on appeal shall be
required. A decision granting such permit or
modifying it in terms satisfactory to the applicant
shall, be immediately executory.
 (g) All cases filed in court under this Section shall be
decided within twenty-four (24) hours from date of
filing. Cases filed hereunder shall be immediately
endorsed to the executive judge for disposition or, in
his absence, to the next in rank.
(h) In all cases, any decision may be appealed to the
Supreme Court.
(i) Telegraphic appeals to be followed by formal
appeals are hereby allowed.
Section 7. Use of public thoroughfare - Should the proposed
public assembly involve the use, for an appreciable length of
time, of any public highway, boulevard, avenue, road or street,
the mayor or any official acting in his behalf may, to prevent
grave public inconvenience, designate the route thereof which
is convenient to the participants or reroute the vehicular traffic
to another direction so that there will be no serious or undue
interference with the free flow of commerce and trade.
Section 8. Responsibility of applicant - It shall be the duty and
responsibility of the leaders and organizers of a public
assembly to take all reasonable measures and steps to the end
that the intended public assembly shall be conducted
peacefully in accordance with the terms of the permit. These
shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) To inform the participants of their responsibility
under the permit;
(b) To police the ranks of the demonstrators in order
to prevent non-demonstrators from disrupting the
lawful activities of the public assembly;
(c) To confer with local government officials
concerned and law enforcers to the end that the
public assembly may be held peacefully;
(d) To see to it that the public assembly undertaken
shall not go beyond the time stated in the permit; and
(e) To take positive steps that demonstrators do not
molest any person or do any act unduly interfering
with the rights of other persons not participating in
the public assembly.
Section 9. Non-interference by law enforcement authorities -
Law enforcement agencies shall not interfere with the holding
of a public assembly. However, to adequately ensure public
safety, a law enforcement contingent under the command of a
responsible police officer may be detailed and stationed in a
place at least one hundred (100) meter away from the area of
activity ready to maintain peace and order at all times.
Section 10. Police assistance when requested - It shall be
imperative for law enforcement agencies, when their
assistance is requested by the leaders or organizers, to perform
their duties always mindful that their responsibility to provide
proper protection to those exercising their right peaceably to
assemble and the freedom of expression is primordial.
Towards this end, law enforcement agencies shall observe the
following guidelines:
(a) Members of the law enforcement contingent who
deal with the demonstrators shall be in complete
uniform with their nameplates and units to which
they belong displayed prominently on the front and
dorsal parts of their uniform and must observe the
policy of "maximum tolerance" as herein defined;
(b) The members of the law enforcement contingent
shall not carry any kind of firearms but may be
equipped with baton or riot sticks, shields, crash
helmets with visor, gas masks, boots or ankle high
shoes with shin guards;
(c) Tear gas, smoke grenades, water cannons, or any
similar anti-riot device shall not be used unless the
26 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
public assembly is attended by actual violence or
serious threats of violence, or deliberate destruction
of property.
Section 11. Dispersal of public assembly with permit - No
public assembly with a permit shall be dispersed. However,
when an assembly becomes violent, the police may disperse
such public assembly as follows:
(a) At the first sign of impending violence, the
ranking officer of the law enforcement contingent
shall call the attention of the leaders of the public
assembly and ask the latter to prevent any possible
disturbance;
(b) If actual violence starts to a point where rocks or
other harmful objects from the participants are
thrown at the police or at the non-participants, or at
any property causing damage to such property, the
ranking officer of the law enforcement contingent
shall audibly warn the participants that if the
disturbance persists, the public assembly will be
dispersed;
(c) If the violence or disturbances prevailing as
stated in the preceding subparagraph should not stop
or abate, the ranking officer of the law enforcement
contingent shall audibly issue a warning to the
participants of the public assembly, and after
allowing a reasonable period of time to lapse, shall
immediately order it to forthwith disperse;
(d) No arrest of any leader, organizer or participant
shall also be made during the public assembly unless
he violates during the assembly a law, statute,
ordinance or any provision of this Act. Such arrest
shall be governed by Article 125 of the Revised
Penal Code, as amended:
(e) Isolated acts or incidents of disorder or branch of
the peace during the public assembly shall not
constitute a group for dispersal.
Section 12. Dispersal of public assembly without permit -
When the public assembly is held without a permit where a
permit is required, the said public assembly may be peacefully
dispersed.
Section 13. Prohibited acts - The following shall constitute
violations of this Act:
(a) The holding of any public assembly as defined in
this Act by any leader or organizer without having
first secured that written permit where a permit is
required from the office concerned, or the use of
such permit for such purposes in any place other
than those set out in said permit: Provided, however,
That no person can be punished or held criminally
liable for participating in or attending an otherwise
peaceful assembly;
(b) Arbitrary and unjustified denial or modification
of a permit in violation of the provisions of this Act
by the mayor or any other official acting in his
behalf.
(c) The unjustified and arbitrary refusal to accept or
acknowledge receipt of the application for a permit
by the mayor or any official acting in his behalf;
(d) Obstructing, impeding, disrupting or otherwise
denying the exercise of the right to peaceful
assembly;
(e) The unnecessary firing of firearms by a member
of any law enforcement agency or any person to
disperse the public assembly;
(f) Acts in violation of Section 10 hereof;
 (g) Acts described hereunder if committed within
one hundred (100) meters from the area of activity
of the public assembly or on the occasion thereof;
1. the carrying of a deadly or offensive
weapon or device such as firearm, pillbox,
bomb, and the like;
2. the carrying of a bladed weapon and the
like;
3 the malicious burning of any object in
the streets or thoroughfares;
4. the carrying of firearms by members of
the law enforcement unit;
5. the interfering with or intentionally
disturbing the holding of a public
assembly by the use of a motor vehicle, its
horns and loud sound systems.
Section 14. Penalties - Any person found guilty and convicted
of any of the prohibited acts defined in the immediately
preceding Section shall be punished as follows:
(a) violation of subparagraph (a) shall be punished
by imprisonment of one month and one day to six
months;
(b) violations of subparagraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f),
and item 4, subparagraph (g) shall be punished by
imprisonment of six months and one day to six
years;
(c) violation of item 1, subparagraph (g) shall be
punished by imprisonment of six months and one
day to six years without prejudice to prosecution
under Presidential Decree No. 1866;
(d) violations of item 2, item 3, or item 5 of
subparagraph (g) shall be punished by imprisonment
of one day to thirty days.
Section 15. Freedom parks - Every city and municipality in
the country shall within six months after the effectivity of this
Act establish or designate at least one suitable "freedom park"
or mall in their respective jurisdictions which, as far as
practicable, shall be centrally located within the poblacion
where demonstrations and meetings may be held at any time
without the need of any prior permit.
In the cities and municipalities of Metropolitan Manila, the
respective mayors shall establish the freedom parks within the
period of six months from the effectivity of this Act.
Section 16. Constitutionality - Should any provision of this
Act be declared invalid or unconstitutional, the validity or
constitutionality of the other provisions shall not be affected
thereby.
27 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
REPUBLIC ACT N0. 9745
AN ACT PENALIZING TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT
OR PUNISHMENT AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES
THEREFOR
Section 1. Short Title. - This Ad shall be known as the "Anti-
Torture Act of 2009".
Section 2. Statement of Policy. - It is hereby declared the
policy of the State:
(a) To value the dignity of every human person and
guarantee full respect for human rights;
(b) To ensure that the human rights of all persons,
including suspects, detainees and prisoners are
respected at all times; and that no person placed
under investigation or held in custody of any person
in authority or, agent of a person authority shall be
subjected to physical, psychological or mental harm,
force, violence, threat or intimidation or any act that
impairs his/her free wi11 or in any manner demeans
or degrades human dignity;
(c) To ensure that secret detention places, solitary,
incommunicado or other similar forms of detention,
where torture may be carried out with impunity, are
prohibited; and
(d) To fully adhere to the principles and standards on
the absolute condemnation and prohibition of torture
as provided for in the 1987 Philippine Constitution;
various international instruments to which the
Philippines is a State party such as, but not limited
to, the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the
Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDA W) and the Convention Against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CAT); and all other relevant
international human rights instruments to which the
Philippines is a signatory.
Section 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act, the
following terms shall mean:
(a) "Torture" refers to an act by which severe pain or
suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes
as obtaining from him/her or a third person
information or a confession; punishing him/her for
an act he/she or a third person has committed or is
suspected of having committed; or intimidating or
coercing him/her or a third person; or for any reason
based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain
or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a person in
authority or agent of a person in authority. It does
not include pain or Buffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
(b) "Other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment" refers to a deliberate and aggravated
treatment or punishment not enumerated under
Section 4 of this Act, inflicted by a person in
authority or agent of a person in authority against a
person under his/her custody, which attains a level
of severity causing suffering, gross humiliation or
debasement to the latter.
(c) "Victim" refers to the person subjected to torture
or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment as defined above and any individual
who has suffered harm as a result of any act(s) of
torture, or other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment.
 (d) "Order of Battle" refers to any document or
determination made by the military, police or any
law enforcement agency of the government, listing
the names of persons and organizations that it
perceives to be enemies of the State and that it
considers as legitimate targets as combatants that it
could deal with, through the use of means allowed
by domestic and international law.
Section 4. Acts of Torture. - For purposes of this Act, torture
shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Physical torture is a form of treatment or
punishment inflicted by a person in authority or
agent of a person in authority upon another in his/her
custody that causes severe pain, exhaustion,
disability or dysfunction of one or more parts of the
body, such as:
(1) Systematic beating, headbanging,
punching, kicking, striking with truncheon
or rifle butt or other similar objects, and
jumping on the stomach;
(2) Food deprivation or forcible feeding
with spoiled food, animal or human
excreta and other stuff or substances not
normally eaten;
(3) Electric shock;
(4) Cigarette burning; burning by
electrically heated rods, hot oil, acid; by
the rubbing of pepper or other chemical
substances on mucous membranes, or
acids or spices directly on the wound(s);
(5) The submersion of the head in water or
water polluted with excrement, urine,
vomit and/or blood until the brink of
suffocation;
(6) Being tied or forced to assume fixed
and stressful bodily position;
(7) Rape and sexual abuse, including the
insertion of foreign objects into the sex
organ or rectum, or electrical torture of the
genitals;
(8) Mutilation or amputation of the
essential parts of the body such as the
genitalia, ear, tongue, etc.;
(9) Dental torture or the forced extraction
of the teeth;
(10) Pulling out of fingernails;
(11) Harmful exposure to the elements
such as sunlight and extreme cold;
(12) The use of plastic bag and other
materials placed over the head to the point
of asphyxiation;
(13) The use of psychoactive drugs to
change the perception, memory. alertness
or will of a person, such as:
(i) The administration or drugs to induce
confession and/or reduce mental
competency; or
(ii) The use of drugs to induce extreme
pain or certain symptoms of a disease; and
28 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(14) Other analogous acts of physical
torture; and
(b) "Mental/Psychological Torture" refers to acts
committed by a person in authority or agent of a
person in authority which are calculated to affect or
confuse the mind and/or undermine a person's
dignity and morale, such as:
(1) Blindfolding;
(2) Threatening a person(s) or his/fher
relative(s) with bodily harm, execution or
other wrongful acts;
(3) Confinement in solitary cells or secret
detention places;
(4) Prolonged interrogation;
(5) Preparing a prisoner for a "show trial",
public display or public humiliation of a
detainee or prisoner;
(6) Causing unscheduled transfer of a
person deprived of liberty from one place
to another, creating the belief that he/she
shall be summarily executed;
(7) Maltreating a member/s of a person's
family;
(8) Causing the torture sessions to be
witnessed by the person's family, relatives
or any third party;
(9) Denial of sleep/rest;
(10) Shame infliction such as stripping the
person naked, parading him/her in public
places, shaving the victim's head or putting
marks on his/her body against his/her will;
(11) Deliberately prohibiting the victim to
communicate with any member of his/her
family; and
(12) Other analogous acts of
mental/psychological torture.
Section 5. Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. - Other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment refers to a deliberate and aggravated treatment or
punishment not enumerated under Section 4 of this Act,
inflicted by a person in authority or agent of a person in
authority against another person in custody, which attains a
level of severity sufficient to cause suffering, gross
humiliation or debasement to the latter. The assessment of the
level of severity shall depend on all the circumstances of the
case, including the duration of the treatment or punishment, its
physical and mental effects and, in some cases, the sex,
religion, age and state of health of the victim.
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
punishment as criminal acts shall apply to all circumstances. A
state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or
any other public emergency, or a document or any
determination comprising an "order of battle" shall not and can
never be invoked as a justification for torture and other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
Section 7. Prohibited Detention. - Secret detention places,
solitary confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms of
detention, where torture may be carried out with impunity. Are
hereby prohibited.
In which case, the Philippine National Police (PNP), 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, with a copy of the complete list available at
the respective national headquarters of the PNP and AFP. A
copy of the complete list shall likewise be submitted by the
PNP, AFP and all other law enforcement agencies to the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR), such list to be
periodically updated, by the same agencies, within the first
five (5) days of every month at the minimum. Every regional
office of the PNP, AFP and other law enforcement agencies
shall also maintain a similar list far all detainees and detention
facilities within their respective areas, and shall make the same
available to the public at all times at their respective regional
headquarters, and submit a copy. updated in the same manner
provided above, to the respective regional offices of the CHR.
Section 8. Applicability of the Exclusionary Rule; Exception. -
Any confession, admission or statement obtained as a result of
torture shall be inadmissible in evidence in any proceedings,
except if the same is used as evidence against a person or
persons accused of committing torture.
Section 9. Institutional Protection of Torture Victims and
Other Persons Involved. - A victim of torture shall have the
following rights in the institution of a criminal complaint for
torture:
(a) To have a prompt and an impartial investigation
by the CHR and by agencies of government
concerned such as the Department of Justice (DOJ),
the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), the PNP, the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the AFP.
A prompt investigation shall mean a maximum
period of sixty (60) working days from the time a
complaint for torture is filed within which an
investigation report and/or resolution shall be
completed and made available. An appeal whenever
available shall be resolved within the same period
prescribed herein,
(b) To have sufficient government protection against
all forms of harassment; threat and/or intimidation as
a consequence of the filing of said complaint or the
presentation of evidence therefor. In which case, the
State through its appropriate agencies shall afford
security in order to ensure his/her safety and all
other persons involved in the investigation and
prosecution such as, but not limited to, his/her
lawyer, witnesses and relatives; and
(c) To be accorded sufficient protection in the
manner by which he/she testifies and presents
evidence in any fora in order to avoid further trauma.
Section 10. Disposition of Writs of Habeas Corpus, Amparo
and Habeas Data Proceedings and Compliance with a
Judicial 07'der. - A writ of habeas corpus or writ of amparo or
writ of habeas data proceeding, if any, filed on behalf of the
victim of torture or other cruel, degrading and inhuman
treatment or punishment shall be disposed of expeditiously and
any order of release by virtue thereof, or other appropriate
order of a court relative thereto, shall be executed or complied
with immediately.
Section 11. Assistance in Filing a Complaint. - The CHR and
the PAO shall render legal assistance in the investigation and
monitoring and/or filing of the complaint for a person who
suffers torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment, or for any interested party thereto.
The victim or interested party may also seek legal assistance
from the Barangay Human Rights Action Center (BRRAC)
nearest him/her as well as from human rights nongovernment
organizations (NGOs).
29 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
Section 12. Right to' Physical, Medical and Psychological
Examination. - Before and after interrogation, every person
arrested, detained or under custodial investigation shall have
the right to he informed of his/her right to demand physical
examination by an independent and competent doctor of
his/her own choice. If such person cannot afford the services
of his/her own doctor, he/she shall he provided by the State
with a competent and independent doctor to conduct physical
examination. The State shall endeavor to provide the victim
with psychological evaluation if available under the
circumstances. If the person arrested is a female, she shall be
attended to preferably by a female doctor. Furthermore, any
person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation,
including his/her immediate family, shall have the right to
immediate access to proper and adequate medical treatment.
The physical examination and/or psychological evaluation of
the victim shall be contained in a medical report, duly signed
by the attending physician, which shall include in detail his/her
medical history and findings, and which shall he attached to
the custodial investigation report. Such report shall be
considered a public document.
Following applicable protocol agreed upon by agencies tasked
to conduct physical, psychological and mental examinations,
the medical reports shall, among others, include:
(a) The name, age and address of the patient or
victim;
(b) The name and address of the nearest kin of the
patient or victim;
(c) The name and address of the person who brought
the patient or victim for physical, psychological and
mental examination, and/or medical treatment;
(d) The nature and probable cause of the patient or
victim's injury, pain and disease and/or trauma;
(e) The approximate time and date when the injury,
pain, disease and/or trauma was/were sustained;
(f) The place where the injury, pain, disease and/or
trauma was/were sustained;
(g) The time, date and nature of treatment necessary;
and
(h) The diagnosis, the prognosis and/or disposition
of the patient.
Any person who does not wish to avail of the rights under this
pr<;lvision may knowingly and voluntarily waive such rights
in writing, executed in the presence and assistance of his/her
counsel.
Section 13. Who are Criminally Liable. - 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
ranking personnel to commit torture for whatever purpose
shall be held equally liable as principals.
The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of
the AFP or the immediate senior public official of the PNP 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. 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 also be liable as principals.
Any public officer or employee shall be liable as an accessory
if he/she has knowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment or punishment is being committed
and without having participated therein, either as principal or
accomplice, takes part subsequent to its commission in any of
the following manner:
(a) By 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) By 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) By 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:
Provided, That the accessory acts are done with the
abuse of the official's public functions.
Section 14. Penalties. - (a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua
shall be imposed upon the perpetrators of the following acts:
(1) Torture resulting in the death of any
person;
(2) Torture resulting in mutilation;
(3) Torture with rape;
(4) Torture with other forms of sexual
abuse and, in consequence of torture, the
victim shall have become insane, imbecile,
impotent, blind or maimed for life; and
(5) Torture committed against children.
(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be
imposed on those who commit any act of
mental/psychological torture resulting in insanity,
complete or partial amnesia, fear of becoming insane
or suicidal tendencies of the victim due to guilt,
worthlessness or shame.
(c) The penalty of prision correccional shall be
imposed on those who commit any act of torture
resulting in psychological, mental and emotional
harm other than those described 1n paragraph (b) of
this section. '
(d) The penalty of prision mayor in its medium and
maximum periods shall be imposed if, in
consequence of torture, the victim shall have lost the
power of speech or the power to hear or to smell; or
shall have lost an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm or a leg;
or shall have lost the use of any such member; Or
shall have become permanently incapacitated for
labor.
(e) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and
medium periods shall be imposed if, in consequence
of torture, the victim shall have become deformed or
shall have lost any part of his/her body other than
those aforecited, or shall have lost the use thereof, or
shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor for a
period of more than ninety (90) days.
30 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
(f) The penalty of prision correccional in its
maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum
period shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture,
the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for
labor for mare than thirty (30) days but not more
than ninety (90) days.
(g) The penalty of prision correccional in its
minimum and medium period shall be imposed if, in
consequence of torture, the victim shall have been ill
or incapacitated for labor for thirty (30) days or less.
(h) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed
for acts constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment as defined in Section 5 of
this Act.
(i) The penalty of prision correccional shall be
imposed upon those who establish, operate and
maintain secret detention places and/or effect or
cause to effect solitary confinement, incommunicado
or other similar forms of prohibited detention as
provided in Section 7 of this Act where torture may
be carried out with impunity.
(j) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed
upon the responsible officers or personnel of the
AFP, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies
for failure to perform his/her duty to maintain,
submit or make available to the public an updated
list of detention centers and facilities with the
corresponding data on the prisoners or detainees
incarcerated or detained therein, pursuant to Section
7 of this Act.
Section 15. Torture as a Separate and Independent Crime. -
Torture as a crime shall not absorb or shall not be absorbed by
any other crime or felony committed as a consequence, or as a
means in the conduct or commission thereof. In which case,
torture shall be treated as a separate and independent criminal
act whose penalties shall be imposable without prejudice to
any other criminal liability provided for by domestic and
international laws.
Section 16. Exclusion from the Coverage of Special Amnesty
Law. - In order not to depreciate the crime of torture, persons
who have committed any act of torture shall not benefit from
any special amnesty law or similar measures that will have the
effect of exempting them from any criminal proceedings and
sanctions.
Section 17. Applicability of Refouler. - No 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 subjected to torture. For the purposes of
determining whether such grounds exist, the Secretary of the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the
DOJ, in coordination with the Chairperson of the CHR, shall
take into account all relevant considerations including, where
applicable and not limited to, the existence in the requesting
State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass
violations of human rights.
Section 18. Compensation to Victims of Torture. - Any person
who has suffered torture shall have the right to claim for
compensation as provided for under Republic Act No. 7309:
Provided, That in no case shall compensation be any lower
than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00). Victims 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 existing law and rules and regulations.
Section 19. Formulation of a Rehabilitation Program. -
Within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act, the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the
DOJ and the Department of Health (DOH) and such other
concerned government agencies, and human rights
organizations shall formulate a comprehensive rehabilitation
program for victims of torture and their families. The DSWD,
the DOJ and thc DOH shall also call on human rights
nongovernment organizations duly recognized by the
government to actively participate in the formulation of such
program that shall provide for the physical, mental, social,
psychological healing and development of victims of torture
and their families. Toward the attainment of restorative justice,
a parallel rehabilitation program for persons who have
committed torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment shall likewise be formulated by the same agencies.
Section 20. Monitoring of Compliance with this Act. - An
Oversight Committee is hereby created to periodically oversee
the implementation of this Act. The Committee shall be
headed by a Commissioner of the CRR, with the following as
members: the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice
and Human Rights, the respective Chairpersons of the House
of Representatives' Committees on Justice and Human Rights,
and the Minority Leaders of both houses or their respective
representatives in the minority.
Section 21. Education and Information Campaign. - The
CHR, the DOJ, the Department of National Defense (DND),
the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
and such other concerned parties in both the public and private
sectors shall ensure that education and information regarding
prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment shall be fully included in
the training of law enforcement personnel, civil or military,
medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may
be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any
individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or
imprisonment. The Department of Education (DepED) and the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall also ensure
the integration of human rights education courses in all
primary, secondary and tertiary level academic institutions
nationwide.
Section 22. Applicability of the Revised Penal Code. - The
provisions of the Revised Penal Code insofar as they are
applicable shall be suppletory to this Act. Moreover, if the
commission of any crime punishable under Title Eight (Crimes
Against Persons) and Title Nine (Crimes Against Personal
Liberty and Security) of the Revised Penal Code is attended by
any of the acts constituting torture and other cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment or punishment as defined herein, the
penalty to be imposed shall be in its maximum period.
Section 23. Appropriations. - The amount of Five million
pesos (Php5,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated to the CHR
for the initial implementation of tills Act. Thereafter, such
sums as may be necessary for the continued implementation of
this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.
Section 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DOJ
and the CHR, with the active participation of human rights
nongovernmental organizations, shall promulgate the rules and
regulations for the effective implementation of tills Act. They
shall also ensure the full dissemination of such rules and
regulations to all officers and members of various law
enforcement agencies.
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 90 January 6, 1973
DECLARING UNLAWFUL RUMOR-MONGERING
AND SPREADING FALSE INFORMATION
WHEREAS, a primordial objective of Proclamation No. 1081
dated September 21, 1972 is the early restoration of peace,
order and tranquility throughout the country;
WHEREAS, one of the most insidious means of disrupting
such peace, order and tranquility is the utterance, publication,
distribution, circulation and spread of rumors, false news or
information and gossip that cause divisive effects among the
people, discredit of or distrust for the duly constituted
authorities and/or that undermine the stability of the
government and the objectives of the New Society and,
therefore, inimical to the best interests of the State;
WHEREAS, to attain the aforesaid primordial objective of
Proclamation No. 1081, it is imperative that such acts be
curbed and penalized;
31 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, in my
capacity as Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of
the Philippines and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081 dated
September 21, 1972, do hereby order and decree that any
person who shall offer, publish, distribute, circulate and spread
rumors, false news and information and gossip, or cause the
publication, distribution, circulation or spreading of the same,
which cause or tend to cause panic, divisive effects among the
people, discredit of or distrust for the duly constituted
authorities, undermine the stability of the Government and the
objectives of the New Society, endanger the public order, or
cause damage to the interest or credit of the State shall, upon
conviction, be punished by prision correccional. In case the
offender is a government official or employee, the accessory
penalty of absolute perpetual disqualification from holding any
public office shall be imposed.
Done in the City of Manila, this 6th day of January, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.
THE REVISED RULES OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
RULE 112
Section 7. When accused lawfully arrested without warrant.
— When a person is lawfully arrested without a warrant
involving an offense which requires a preliminary
investigation, the complaint or information may be filed by a
prosecutor without need of such investigation provided an
inquest has been conducted in accordance with existing rules.
In the absence or unavailability of an inquest prosecutor, the
complaint may be filed by the offended party or a peace office
directly with the proper court on the basis of the affidavit of
the offended party or arresting officer or person.
Before the complaint or information is filed, the person
arrested may ask for a preliminary investigation in accordance
with this Rule, but he must sign a waiver of the provisions of
Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, in the
presence of his counsel. Notwithstanding the waiver, he may
apply for bail and the investigation must be terminated within
fifteen (15) days from its inception.
After the filing of the complaint or information in court
without a preliminary investigation, the accused may, within
five (5) days from the time he learns of its filing, ask for a
preliminary investigation with the same right to adduce
evidence in his defense as provided in this Rule. (7a; sec. 2,
R.A. No. 7438)
RULE 113
Arrest
Section 1. Definition of arrest. — Arrest is the taking of a
person into custody in order that he may be bound to answer
for the commission of an offense. (1)
Section 2. Arrest; how made. — An arrest is made by an
actual restraint of a person to be arrested, or by his submission
to the custody of the person making the arrest.
No violence or unnecessary force shall be used in making an
arrest. The person arrested shall not be subject to a greater
restraint than is necessary for his detention. (2a)
Section 3. Duty of arresting officer. — It shall be the duty of
the officer executing the warrant to arrest the accused and to
deliver him to the nearest police station or jail without
unnecessary delay. (3a)
Section 4. Execution of warrant. — The head of the office to
whom the warrant of arrest was delivered for execution shall
cause the warrant to be executed within ten (10) days from its
receipt. Within ten (10) days after the expiration of the period,
the officer to whom it was assigned for execution shall make a
report to the judge who issued the warrant. In case of his
failure to execute the warrant, he shall state the reasons
therefor. (4a)
Section 5. Arrest without warrant; when lawful. — A peace
officer or a private person may, without a warrant, arrest a
person:
(a) When, in his presence, the person to be arrested
has committed, is actually committing, or is
attempting to commit an offense;
(b) When an offense has just been committed, and he
has probable cause to believe based on personal
knowledge of facts or circumstances that the person
to be arrested has committed it; and
(c) When the person to be arrested is a prisoner who
has escaped from a penal establishment or place
where he is serving final judgment or is temporarily
confined while his case is pending, or has escaped
while being transferred from one confinement to
another.
In cases falling under paragraph (a) and (b) above, the person
arrested without a warrant shall be forthwith delivered to the
nearest police station or jail and shall be proceeded against in
accordance with section 7 of Rule 112. (5a)
Section 6. Time of making arrest. — An arrest may be made
on any day and at any time of the day or night. (6)
Section 7. Method of arrest by officer by virtue of warrant. —
When making an arrest by virtue of a warrant, the officer shall
inform the person to be arrested of the cause of the arrest and
of the fact that a warrant has been issued for his arrest, except
when he flees or forcibly resists before the officer has
opportunity to so inform him, or when the giving of such
information will imperil the arrest. The officer need not have
the warrant in his possession at the time of the arrest but after
the arrest, if the person arrested so requires, the warrant shall
be shown to him as soon as practicable. (7a)
Section 8. Method of arrest by officer without warrant. —
When making an arrest without a warrant, the officer shall
inform the person to be arrested of his authority and the cause
of the arrest, unless the latter is either engaged in the
commission of an offense, is pursued immediately after its
commission, has escaped, flees or forcibly resists before the
officer has opportunity so to inform him, or when the giving of
such information will imperil the arrest. (8a)
Section 9. Method of arrest by private person. — When
making an arrest, a private person shall inform the person to be
arrested of the intention to arrest him and cause of the arrest,
unless the latter is either engaged in the commission of an
offense, is pursued immediately after its commission, or has
escaped, flees, or forcibly resists before the person making the
arrest has opportunity to so inform him, or when the giving of
such information will imperil the arrest. (9a)
Section 11. Right of officer to break into building or
enclosure. — An officer, in order to make an arrest either by
virtue of a warrant, or without a warrant as provided in section
5, may break into any building or enclosure where the person
to be arrested is or is reasonably believed to be, if he is refused
admittance thereto, after announcing his authority and
purpose. (11a)
Section 12. Right to break out from building or enclosure. —
Whenever an officer has entered the building or enclosure in
accordance with the preceding section, he may break out
therefrom when necessary to liberate himself. (12a)
Section 13. Arrest after escape or rescue. — If a person
lawfully arrested escapes or is rescued, any person may
immediately pursue or retake him without a warrant at any
time and in any place within the Philippines. (13)
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
32 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS
the day or night. Subject to reasonable regulations, a relative
of the person arrested can also exercise the same right. (14a)
RULE 115
Rights of Accused
Section 1. Rights of accused at the trial. — In all criminal
prosecutions, the accused shall be entitled to the following
rights:
(a) To be presumed innocent until the contrary is
proved beyond reasonable doubt.
(b) To be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation against him.
(c) To be present and defend in person and by
counsel at every stage of the proceedings, from
arraignment to promulgation of the judgment. The
accused may, however, waive his presence at the
trial pursuant to the stipulations set forth in his bail,
unless his presence is specifically ordered by the
court for purposes of identification. The absence of
the accused without justifiable cause at the trial of
which he had notice shall be considered a waiver of
his right to be present thereat. When an accused
under custody escapes, he shall be deemed to have
waived his right to be present on all subsequent trial
dates until custody over him is regained. Upon
motion, the accused may be allowed to defend
himself in person when it sufficiently appears to the
court that he can properly protect his right without
the assistance of counsel.
(d) To testify as a witness in his own behalf but
subject to cross-examination on matters covered by
direct examination. His silence shall not in any
manner prejudice him.
(e) To be exempt from being compelled to be a
witness against himself.
(f) To confront and cross-examine the witnesses
against him at the trial. Either party may utilize as
part of its evidence the testimony of a witness who is
deceased, out of or can not with due diligence be
found in the Philippines, unavailable or otherwise
unable to testify, given in another case or
proceeding, judicial or administrative, involving the
same parties and subject matter, the adverse party
having the opportunity to cross-examine him.
(g) To have compulsory process issued to secure the
attendance of witnesses and production of other
evidence in his behalf.
(h) To have speedy, impartial and public trial.
(i) To appeal in all cases allowed and in the manner
prescribed by law.
Section 1. Search warrant defined. — A search warrant is an
order in writing issued in the name of the People of the
Philippines, signed by a judge and directed to a peace officer,
commanding him to search for personal property described
therein and bring it before the court. (1)
Section 2. Court where application for search warrant shall
be filed. — An application for search warrant shall be filed
with the following:
a) Any court within whose territorial jurisdiction a
crime was committed.
b) For compelling reasons stated in the application,
any court within the judicial region where the crime
was committed if the place of the commission of the
 crime is known, or any court within the judicial
region where the warrant shall be enforced.
However, if the criminal action has already been filed, the
application shall only be made in the court where the criminal
action is pending. (n)
Section 3. Personal property to be seized. — A search warrant
may be issued for the search and seizure of personal property:
(b) Ten (10) days after issuance of the search
warrant, the issuing judge shall ascertain if the return
has been made, and if none, shall summon the
person to whom the warrant was issued and require
him to explain why no return was made. If the return
has been made, the judge shall ascertain whether
section 11 of this Rule has been complained with
and shall require that the property seized be
delivered to him. The judge shall see to it that
subsection (a) hereof has been complied with.

(a) Subject of the offense; (c) The return on the search warrant shall be filed
and kept by the custodian of the log book on search
(b) Stolen or embezzled and other proceeds, or fruits warrants who shall enter therein the date of the
of the offense; or return, the result, and other actions of the judge.

(c) Used or intended to be used as the means of A violation of this section shall constitute contempt of
committing an offense. (2a) court.(11a)

Section 4. Requisites for issuing search warrant. — A search Section 13. Search incident to lawful arrest. — A person
warrant shall not issue except upon probable cause in lawfully arrested may be searched for dangerous weapons or
connection with one specific offense to be determined anything which may have been used or constitute proof in the
personally by the judge after examination under oath or commission of an offense without a search warrant.
affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may
produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched
and the things to be seized which may be anywhere in the
Philippines. (3a)

Section 5. Examination of complainant; record. — The judge

must, before issuing the warrant, personally examine in the
form of searching questions and answers, in writing and under
oath, the complainant and the witnesses he may produce on
facts personally known to them and attach to the record their
sworn statements, together with the affidavits submitted. (4a)

Section 6. Issuance and form of search warrant. — If the

judge is satisfied of the existence of facts upon which the
application is based or that there is probable cause to believe
that they exist, he shall issue the warrant, which must be
substantially in the form prescribed by these Rules. (5a)

Section 7. Right to break door or window to effect search. —

The officer, if refused admittance to the place of directed
search after giving notice of his purpose and authority, may
break open any outer or inner door or window of a house or
any part of a house or anything therein to execute the warrant
or liberate himself or any person lawfully aiding him when
unlawfully detained therein. (6)

Section 8. Search of house, room, or premise to be made in

presence of two witnesses. — No search of a house, room, or
any other premise shall be made except in the presence of the
lawful occupant thereof or any member of his family or in the
absence of the latter, two witnesses of sufficient age and
discretion residing in the same locality. (7a)

Section 9. Time of making search. — The warrant must direct

that it be served in the day time, unless the affidavit asserts
that the property is on the person or in the place ordered to be
searched, in which case a direction may be inserted that it be
served at any time of the day or night. (8)

Section 10. Validity of search warrant. — A search warrant

shall be valid for ten (10) days from its date. Thereafter it shall
be void. (9a)

Section 11. Receipt for the property seized. — The officer

seizing property under the warrant must give a detailed receipt
for the same to the lawful occupant of the premises in whose
presence the search and seizure were made, or in the absence
of such occupant, must, in the presence of at least two
witnesses of sufficient age and discretion residing in the same
locality, leave a receipt in the place in which he found the
seized property. (10a)

Section 12. Delivery of property and inventory thereof to

court; return and proceedings thereon. — (a) The officer must
forthwith deliver the property seized to the judge who issued
the warrant, together with a true inventory thereof duly
verified under oath.
33 CRIM2_SPECIAL LAWS