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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second Regular Session 
SENATE 
Prepared and Submitted jointly by the Committees on Justice and Human Rights; 
Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws; and Finance with 
Senators Pangilinan, Escudero, Madrigal, Defensor Santiago, Villar and Angara 
as authors thereof 
ANACT 
' 
DEFINING AND PENALIZING THE CRIME OF ENFORCED OR 
INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2009." 
SEC. 2. Declavation 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, 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 form the effective protection of the law. 
Furthermore, the State adheres to the principles and standards on the 
absolute condemnation on human rights set by the 1987 Philippine Constitution 
and various international instruments such as bQt not limited to the International 
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Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention Against 


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Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment 
(CAT), to which the Philippine is a State party. 
SEC. 3. Dejinitions. - For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall 
mean: 
(1) ”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. 
”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 above. 
(2) 
SEC. 4. Permanent Prohibition of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. - The 
prohibition of enforced or involuntary disappearance and the fundamental 
safeguards for its prevention shall not be suspended under any circumstances 
including political instability, threat of war,, state of war or other public 
emergencies. 
SEC. 5. 
“Order of Battle“ Not Legal Ground for Enforced or Involuntary 
Disappearance. - An ”Order of Battle”, official or otherwise, issued by the 
military, police or any other law enforcement agencies of government, shall not 
justify or be made an exemption from an enforced or involuntary disappearance 
as defined and penalized in this Act. 
SEC. 6. Right o f a  Victim. - It shall be the absolute right of a victim of 
enforced or involuntary disappearance to have immediate access to any form of 
communication available in order for him/her to inform his/her family, relative, 
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friend, lawyer or any human rights organization on his/her whereabouts and 
condition. 
SEC. 7. Duty to Report Victims $Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. - 
Any person, not being a principal, accomplice or accessory, who keeps a victim 
of enforced or involuntary disappearance or who shall learn or have information 
of such fact 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 Philippine National Police 
(PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Department of National 
Defense (DND), 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. 
SEC. 8. Duty to Certify an Inquiry into a Possible Victim‘s Whereabouts. - In 
case a family member, relative, friend or lawyer of a possible victim, or human 
rights organization or member of the media inquires into a possible case of 
enforced or involuntary disappearance, specifically the supposed victim’s 
whereabouts, with the PNP, AFP, NBI, or similar agencies of government, 
hospitals, morgues, the officer or personnel concerned shall issue a 
corresponding certification on such inquiry, stating among others in clear and 
unequivocal manner the date and time of inquiry, details of the inquiry and the 
response to the inquiry. 
SEC. 9. OjjClcial Up-to-Date Registev ofAll Persons Detained ov Confined. - All 
persons to be detained or confined pursuant to existing laws and rules and 
regulations 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. 
Within forty-eight (48) hours from the time of arrest, the following details, 
among others, shall be recorded in the register: 
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(a) The identity of the person deprived of liberty or arrested; 
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(b) The date, time and location where the person was arrested and 
the identity of the arresting authority; 
(c) The ground or legal basis for the deprivation of liberty or arrest; 
(d) The agency of government having control over the deprivation 
of liberty or arrest; 
(e) The place of detention or confinement and the date and time of 
admission to such place of detention or Confinement; 
(f) Records of physical, mental and psychological condition of the 
person detained or confined before and after detention or 
confinement; 
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human remains; 
(g) In the event of death during detention or confinement, the 
circumstances and cause of death and the destination of the 
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(h) In the event of a release or transfer, the date and time of release 
or transfer to another place of detention or confinement, and the 
person or institution responsible for the transfer. 
All information contained in the register shall be regularly or upon 
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request reported to the CHR or any other agencies of government tasked to 
monitor and protect human rights and shall be made available to the public. 
SEC. 10. Submission of list of Govevnment Detedon 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. 
SEC. 11. Immediate lssunnce and Compliance of the Writs of Habeas Corpus and 
Amparo. - All proceedings pertaining to the issuance of the writs of habeas corpus 
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and amparo 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. 
SEC. 12. Visitation/lnspection of Places of Detention and Confinement. -The 
CHR or its duly authorized representative are hereby mandated and authorized 
to conduct regular, independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to or 
inspection of all places of detention and confinement. 
SEC. 13. Liability of Commanding Oflcer or Superior. - The immediate 
commanding officer or superior or the equivalent senior official of the offender 
who has the power, prerogative or authority to prevent or uncover a crime of 
enforced or involuntary disappearance but fails to do so, deliberately or 
negligently, shall be held liable under the principle of command responsibility. 
SEC. 14. Penal Provisions. - (a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua 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. 
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. (b) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed upon those who shall 
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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 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; 
By concealing the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance 
(2) 
and/or destroying the effects or instruments thereof in order to 
prevent its discovery; or 
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 
(3) 
functions. 
(d) The penalty of prision correccional 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 or amparo or their respective 
proceedings. 
(e) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed against any person who 
shall violate the provisions of Sections 6,7,8,9 and 10 of this Act. 
SEC. 15. Preventive Suspension. - 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 
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evidence so presented and gathered in the said preliminary investigation or as 
may be recommended by the investigating authority. 
SEC. 16. 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. 
SEC. 17. Prosecution of the Oflense. - In the event the prosecution fails to 
prove all the elements of enforced or involuntary disappearance and the victim 
appears, the act shall be made punishable as kidnapping under the Revised 
Penal Code. If the victim, however, is found dead or his/her disappearance 
persists for over three years, the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance in 
either case shall be made punishable as murder under the Revised Penal Code. 
SEC. 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". 
SEC. 19. Nonexclusivity or Double jeopardy Under International Lazo. -Any 
investigation, trial and decision in any Philippine 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. 
SEC. 20. Unlazufid Order. - An order form a superior officer or a pubIic 
authority causing the commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance is 
unIawfuI and cannot be invoked as a justifying circumstance. 
SEC. 21. Incentives. - Any offender who volunteers information that leads 
to the discovery of the victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be 
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immune from any criminal liability under this Act, provided that the said 
offender appears to be not the most guilty. 
SEC. 22. Continuing Ofense. - An act constituting enforced or involuntary 
disappearance shall be considered as a continuing offense as long as the 
perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and whereabouts of the victim, and the 
victim has not reappeared. 
SEC. 23. Statufe of Limitation 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. 
SEC. 24. Special Amnesty La741 Exclusion. - Persons who are 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. 
SEC. 25. 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. They shall likewise be 
protected from any form of intimidation or reprisal. 
SEC. 26. Compensation/Rekabilitation of Victims and Restitution of Honor and 
Reputation. - The victims of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be 
entitled to monetary compensation, medical and psychological 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/her personal circumstances, 
status, person or affiliation by the appropriate agencies of government. 
A relative 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, otherwise known as "An Act 
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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. 
Any package of indemnification for both the victim and his/her relative as 
defined above shall be without prejudice to other legal remedies that may be 
available to them under existing laws. 
SEC. 27. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) days from 
the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the CHR, the Families 
of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) and the Desaparecidos 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 in 
consultation with human rights organizations such as but not limited to the 
Asian Federation Against Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD), the 
KARAPATAN, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and other human 
rights organizations. 
SEC. 28. 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. 
SEC. 29. 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. 
SEC. 30. 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. 
SEC. 31, Efjcectivify. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation or the Official 
Gazette. 
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Approved, 
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