Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.,  
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY “HORI” G. 
HORIBATA AND HON. NICOLAS “NICK” C. ENCISO VIII 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
To serve and to protect is the motto of the Philippine National Police (PNP). As the 
primary law enforcement agency of the land, the PNP has been reposed with utmost 
trust and confidence by the State and its people to maintain peace and order, as well 
as to ensure the safety and security of every Filipino. Indeed, it is a tall order to fulfill. 
It is also a great privilege that demands nothing short of the sacrosanct observance of 
standard protocols mandated not just by the rules of police engagement, but also by 
the laws of the land—foremost of which is the Constitution. 
Are the police being judicious in their sworn duty to serve and protect? This bill seeks 
to finally address this concern with the aid of science and technology by requiring 
police forces, especially those who take part in police operations, to wear body 
cameras during the entire operation, and store the same file for at least three years 
for all legal intents and purposes it may serve. 
The installation of body cameras on police vests is a recent international development 
in law enforcement. In fact, the United States of America (USA) New York City and 
Washington City police departments, some of the largest city police forces in the world, 
started requiring their policemen to wear body cameras on duty. Several footages 
have already shown controversial material, some terribly incriminating against the 
police. The US authorities are optimistic that this practice will compel their law 
enforcement authorities to strictly abide by protocol and laws. The same is the fervent 
hope of this representation. 
By requiring every police officer on duty and/or engaged in police operations to wear 
a body camera, and by penalizing his failure to do so, this bill aims to curb police 
abuses of all sorts. The police forces are reminded that while their authority is great, 
the responsibility to always act honorably and within the ambit of existing standard 
operating procedures is never dispensable. In every case involving alleged police 
abuse, mishandling, or brutality, the audio-visual recordings shall be presented and 
studied by the court/s to determine the truth. Any misdeed on the part of the police 
September 13, 2022
8:00 am
4708


2
forces shall be dealt with accordingly. 
The people deserve to know the truth. Erring policemen must be held accountable. 
There is no injustice worse than that caused by the very hands of the State.  
In consideration of the foregoing premises, the passage of this bill is urgently sought. 
LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR. 
MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE 
TSUYOSHI ANTHONY “HORI” G. HORIBATA 
NICOLAS “NICK” C. ENCISO VIII 


3
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. ____ 
Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.,  
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY “HORI” G. 
HORIBATA AND HON. NICOLAS “NICK” C. ENCISO VIII 
AN ACT  
MANDATING LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL TO WEAR A BODY 
CAMERA DURING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SPECIAL POLICE 
OPERATIONS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
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 “Body Camera for Law 
Enforcement Personnel Act”. 
SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms are 
defined as follows: 
a)
Law Enforcement Officer refers to any person authorized by law to prevent,
investigate, conduct searches and other police operations, apprehend or detain
individuals suspected or convicted of offenses under Philippine laws;
b)
Law Enforcement Operation refers to any legitimate police operations which
include but not limited to service of warrants of arrest, implementation of search
warrants, enforcement of visitorial powers, anti-illegal drug operation, anti-illegal
gambling operations, anti-illegal logging operations, anticarnapping operations,
anti-cybercrime operations, special police operations and similar operations that
are conducted to enforce laws, statutes, executive orders and ordinances;
c)
Video Footage refers to any images or video recorded by a Body Camera;
4708


 
4
d) 
Subject of the Video Footage refers to identifiable law enforcement officer or any 
identifiable suspect, victim, detainee, conversant, injured party, or other similarly 
situated person who appears on the body camera recording, and shall not include 
people who only incidentally appear on the recording. 
e) 
Body Camera refers to a wearable body camera that is used by law enforcement 
officer by his/her agency that records both audio and video when conducting 
police operations. 
 
SEC. 3. Mandatory Use of Body Cameras. — All law enforcement officers that 
conduct police operations shall be required to wear a body camera and record the 
events while in the course of conducting any police operations as defined in this Act. 
 
SEC. 4. Guidelines for the Use of Body Cameras. — Any law enforcement enforcer 
mandated to wear a body camera shall ensure that: 
a) 
The body cameras shall be worn in a location that maximizes the camera's ability 
to perform its full potential by capturing audio and video footage of the law 
enforcement officer's activities; and 
b) 
Both video and audio recording functions of the body camera shall be activated 
whenever a law enforcement officer is responding to a call for service or at the 
initiation of any other law enforcement or investigative encounter between a law 
enforcement officer and a member of the public, except that when an immediate 
threat to the officer's life or safety makes activating the camera impossible of 
dangerous, the officer shall activate the camera at the first reasonable 
opportunity to do so. The body camera shall not be deactivated until the 
encounter has concluded and the law enforcement officers leave the scene. 
 
SEC. 5. Prohibition on the use of Body Cameras. — The use of body camera shall 
not be allowed in tire following instances: 
a) 
Body cameras shall not be used to gather intelligence information based on 
protected speeches, associations, or religion, or to record activity that is 
unrelated to a response to a call for service or a law enforcement or investigative 
encounter between a law enforcement officer and the member of the public. 


 
5
b) 
Law enforcement officers shall not activate the camera while on the grounds of 
any public, private or parochial elementary or secondary school, except when 
responding to an imminent threat to life or health. 
c) 
Video footage shall not be divulged or used by any law enforcement agency for 
any commercial or other non-law enforcement purpose. 
d) 
No government agency or official, or law enforcement agency, officer, or official 
may publicly disclose, release, or share body camera video footage 
e) 
Body cameras shall not be used surreptitiously. 
 
SEC. 6. Penalties. — Any act or omission causing the violation of duties mandated 
under this Act shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding fifty thousand pesos 
(P50,000.00) and /or suspension without pay for a period not exceeding three (3) 
months, without prejudice to other administrative, civil or criminal liabilities that may 
arise therefrom. 
 
SEC. 7. Funding. — The initial amount necessary for the implementation of this Act 
shall be charged against the current fiscal year's appropriation of the law enforcement 
agencies involved, such as, but not limited to, the PNP, NBJ and PDEA. Thereafter, 
such sums as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this Act shall be 
included in the annual General Appropriations Act. 
 
SEC. 8. Separability Clause. — Should any provision of this Act or part hereof be 
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions or parts not affected thereby 
shall remain valid and effective. 
 
SEC. 9. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, and issuance or portions 
thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, 
amended, or modified accordingly. 
 
SEC 10. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
in at least two newspapers of general circulation. 
 
Approved,