FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
First Regular Session 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
SENATE 
Introduced by Senator Biazon , 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippines is a signatory to major international human rights treaties including the 
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention against 
Torture. As enshrined in Article 7 of the ICCPR and other standards, “No one may be subjected 
to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” By ratifying the 
Convention on Torture, the Philippines became bound by its provisions and thereby committed 
itself to “take effective legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures” to prevent torture 
in any territory under its jurisdiction. 
Likewise, Section 19(2), Article I11 of the Constitution provides that “The punishment of 
physical and psychological, or degrading punishment against any prisoner or detainee or the use 
of substandard or inadequate penal facilities under sub-human conditions shall be dealt with by 
law.” 
Under Executive Order 163, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) was 
established to give effect to the State policy that ”the State values the dignity of every human 
person and guarantees full respect for human rights.” 
Despite international and domestic commitments, torture in the Philippines persists, 
constituting as one of the most serious assaults on the principle of respect for human dignity. 
Techniques of torture used in recent years mirror those used in the 1970s and 1980s. These 
torture methods include electro-shocks, the use of plastic bags to suffocate detainees, burning 
detainees with cigarettes, beating with fists, metal pipes or gun barrels and placing chili peppers 
on the detainees’ eyes or genitals. These techniques are used to extract information and force 
confessions. Those most at risk of torture are alleged members of armed opposition groups and 
their suspected sympathizers, ordinary criminal suspects and members of poor or marginalized 
communities, including women and children, who are suspected o f  committing criminal acts. 
While the‘ absolute prohibition on torture and ill-treatment under international law is 
affirmed in the Philippine Constitution, it has not yet been reflected in domestic law. It is 
therefore imperative that the government takes immediate steps to prevent torture and ill- 
treatment in custody. This bill therefore seeks to fill in the gap by specifically defining and 
penalizing acts of torture, criminalizing the same in whatever stage it may have been committed 
and in whatever nature the participation of perpetrators of torture is, and imposing the penalties 
proportional to the gravity of the offense. 
In view of the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly requested. 


\ 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
L,. 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
First Regular Session 
1 
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Introduced by Senator Rodolfo G. Biazon 
AN ACT 
PENALIZING THE COMMISSION OF ACTS OF TORTURE AND FOR OTHER 
PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic ofrhe Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short TitZe. - This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Torture Act”. 
SEC. 2. Statement of Policy. - It is hereby the policy of the State to fully adhere to the 
principles and standards on the absolute condemnation and prohibition of torture set by the 
Constitution and various international instruments, including the UN Convention Against 
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which the 
Philippines is a signatory. Towards this end, the State shall ensure that the rights of all persons 
including suspects, detainees or prisoners are respected at a11 times. 
SEC. 3. Definitioa of Term. - “Torture” as used in this Act shall mean any act by which 
severe pain or suffering, whether physical, mental or pharmacological, is intentionally inflicted 
by, or at the instigation of or with consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person 
acting in an official capacity, on a person for such purposes as (1) obtaining from hidher or a 
third person information or confession, (2) punishing h i d e r  for an act he has committed or 
suspected of having committed, or (3) intimidating or coercing hindher or a third person, or for 
any reason based on discrimination of any kind. 
For purposes of this Act, torture shall include but shall not be limited to the following: 


A. Physical Torture: 
1) 
systematic beatings, headbangings, punching, kicking, striking with truncheons, 
rifle butts, jumping on the stomach; 
food deprivation or forcible feeding With spoiled food, animal or human excreta or 
other food not normally eaten by the victim; 
2) 
3) 
electric shocks; 
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 wounds; 
the submersion of the victim’s head in water or water polluted with excrement, 
urine, vomit and/or blood until on the brink of suffocation; 
being tied or forced to assume fixed and stressful bodily positions; 
rape and sexual abuse, including the insertion of foreign bodies into the sex organs 
or rectum or electrical torture of the genitals; 
mutilation, such as amputation of the essential parts of the body such as the 
genitalia, ears, tongue, etc.; 
dental torture or the forced extraction of the teeth, 
5) 
6) 
7) 
8) 
9) 
10) harmful exposure to the elements such as sunlight and extreme cold; 
11) the use of plastic bags and other materials placed over the victim’s head to the point 
of asphyxiation; and 
12) other forms of aggravated and deliberate cruel, inhuman or degrading physical 
treatment or punishment. 
B. Mental/ Psychological Torture: 
1) blindfolding; 
2) threatening the victims or their families with bodily harm, execution or other wrongful 
acts; 
3) confining them in solitary cells or in cells put up in public places; 
4) confining them in solitary cells against their will or without prejudice to their security; 


5) prolonged interrogation of victims so as to deny the person normal length of sleep 
and/or rest; 
6) maltreating a member of the victim's family; 
7) witnessing the torture sessions by the victim's family or relatives; 
8) denial of sleephest; 
9) shame infliction such as stripping the victims naked, parading them in public places, 
shaving their heads or putting marks on their bodies against their will; and 
10) other forms of deliberate and aggravated cruel, inhuman or degrading mental 
treatment or punishment. 
C. Pharmacological Torture: 
1. administration of drugs to induce confession and/or reduce mental competency; 
2. the use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain symptoms of disease; and 
3. other forms of deliberate and aggravated cruel, inhuman or degrading pharmacological 
treatment or punishment. 
SEC. 4. Criminal Liability. - Torture as defined in Section 2 of this Act is hereby 
declared as a criminal act. The individuals who actually participated in the infliction of deliberate 
and aggravated physical, mental and pharmacological harm, as well as the individuals present 
during the commission of said acts shall be liable as principals. An order from a superior officer 
or from a superior in the office or public authority shall not be invoked as a justification of 
torture. 
SEC. 5. Liability of Commanding Offer. - The immediate Commanding Officer or 
equivalent Senior Official shall be held liable as accessory to the crime for any acts of omission 
or negligence on his part that may have led to the commission of overt acts of deliberate and 
aggravated torture by his subordinates. However, he shall be liable as principal if he is present 
during the act of torture, whether he participated or not in the act of torture. 
SEC. 6. Right of Medical Examination. - Any person arrested, detained or under 
custodial investigation shall have the right to demand a medical examination by an independent 
and competent doctor of his own choice before and after interrogation, which shall be conducted 
outside the influence of the police or security forces. If such person cannot afford the services of 


his own doctor, he shall be provided with a competent and independent doctor by the 
investigating officer with the female victim provided with a female doctor. 
The medical report shall include in detail the history and the findings of the physical 
examination and shall be attached to the custodial investigation report, otherwise, such 
investigation report shall be deemed null and void and of no effect whatsoever. 
SEC. 7. Pertalties. - Torture that results in the loss of life of any person shall be 
considered as murder and shall be punishable as such. 
Torture that results to sexual abuse of the victim shall be considered as rape and shall be 
punishable as such. 
A person found guilty of any other form of physical andor pharmacological torture shall 
suffer: 
a) The penalty of reclusion temporal, if in consequence of the physical and/or 
pharmacological torture, the victim shall become insane, imbecile, impotent, blind, or 
maimed for life; 
b) The penalty ofprision mayor in its medium and maximum periods, if in consequence 
of the physical andor pharmacological torture, the victim shall have lost the use 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 
incapacitated for the work in which he/she was theretofore habitually engaged; 
c) The penalty ofprision mayor in its minimum and medium periods, if in consequence 
of the physical andor pharmacological torture, the victim shall have become 
deformed, or shall have lost any other part of his body, or shall have lost the use 
thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the work in 
which he was habitually engaged for a period of more than 90 days; and, 
d) The penalty of prision correcional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its 
minimum period, if the consequences of the physical and/or pharmacological torture 
shall have caused the illness or incapacity for labor of the victim for more than thirty 
days. 


If mutilation results as a consequence of physical and pharmacological torture, the 
offender shall suffer the penalty of reclusionperpetua in its maximum period. 
Mental torture shall be punishable with reclusion temporal or a fine of not less than Fifty 
Thousand Pesos (P50,OOO.OO) or both, at the discretion of the court. 
A public official or employee found guilty of deliberate and aggravated torture shall be 
permanently disqualified from holding any appointive or elective position in the government. 
The penalty of imprisonment from three (3) years to six (6) years or a fine of not less than 
Twenty Thousand Pesos (P20,OOO.OO) or both, at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed 
upon any arresting public officer, employee or any investigating officer who violated the 
provision of Section 4 of this Act. 
The above penalties shall be without prejudice to other legal remedies available to the 
victim under the law. 
SEC. 8. Protection of Victims of and Witnesses to Torture. - Any individual who alleges 
he has been subjected to deliberate and aggravated torture shall have the right to complain to and 
to have his case promptly and impartially examined by, the competent authorities. Steps shall be 
taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill treatment or 
intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any given evidence. 
SEC. 9. Compensation to Victim of Torture. - Any person who has suffered torture 
shall have the right to claim for compensation as provided for under Republic Act No. 7309, 
otherwise known as the “Board of Claims Act of 1999”, and under other financial relief 
programs that may be available to him. 
SEC. 10. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of Justice (DOJ) and 
the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), in consultation with human rights non-governmental 
organizations duly recognized and accredited by the government shall promulgate the rules and 
regulations for the effective implementation of this Act. They shall also ensure the full 
dissemination of such rules and regulations to all officers and members of various law 
enforcement agencies. 
SEC. 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws or any part thereof, inconsistent herewith are 
hereby deemed repealed or modified accordingly. 


SEC. 12. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in 
at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved,