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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session  
House Bill No. _______ 
Introduced by Representative Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Incidents of police abuse, including occasional involvement in extra-judicial killings and 
other criminal activities, have eroded the people’s trust in our law enforcement personnel.  
 In order to address therefore this persistent problem, this bill mandates law enforcement 
personnel, which includes members of the PNP, the NBI and the PDEA, to wear body cameras 
during law enforcement and special police operations and store the same file for at least six (6) 
months, or for even a longer duration under justifiable circumstances. 
 This measure seeks to tap modern technology in order to compel our police forces to strictly 
abide by their protocols and our country’s laws. Legislative notice is taken of recent developments 
wherein on-duty security officers screening passengers at the NAIA and other gateways 
nationwide are now also being required to wear body cameras to monitor in real time their 
activities. This is probably intended to augment or address the gaps in the operation of CCTV 
cameras. 
 In view of the foregoing considerations, the immediate approval of this bill is earnestly 
recommended. 
RICHARD I. GOMEZ, DPA
July 21, 2025
3:36 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session  
House Bill No. ________ 
Introduced by Representative Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
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 the 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”. 
SEC. 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, anti-carnapping operations, anti-cybercrime
operations, special police operations and similar operations that are conducted to enforce
laws, statutes, executive orders and ordinances;
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c. Video Footage - refers to any image or video recorded by a Body Camera; 
 
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 
whereby his/her agency effects both audio and video recording 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: 
 
1. 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;  
 
2. 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 or 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; and 
 
3. Body camera video footage shall be retained by the law enforcement agency that employs 
the officer whose camera captured the footage, or an authorized agent thereof, for six (6) 
months from the date it was recorded, after which time such footage shall be permanently 
deleted. In the event however that the subject video footage captured images involving the 
use of force or when a request is made for a longer retention period on justifiable grounds, 
the footage may be retained for no less than three (3) years at the discretion of the head of 
the unit. 
 
SEC. 5. Prohibition on the Use of Body Cameras. — The use of body camera shall not be 


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allowed in the 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; 
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; and 
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, NBI 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 the 
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,