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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
Second Regular Session 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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EXPLANATORY NOTE 
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou retum unto the 
ground; for out of it was thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou 
return.” (Genesis 3: 19) 
Grave robbery has always been a problem since time immemorial. In a culture as rich as 
ours, we have always honored our dead with many gifts to commemorate their lives as well as 
graves fit to be their final resting place. As the time for remembering those who preceded us 
approaches, a few unfortunate souls would find that the final resting place of their loved ones has 
been desecrated by grave robbers. The damage done goes beyond the measurable as it not only 
dishonors the deceased, it also causes anguish to those who survived them. According to a US 
case, “the gravamen of an action for desecration of a grave is the mental suffering caused by the 
disturbance of a loved one’s final resting place”.* 
No matter the description of the grave, from the grandiose pyramids to Jean Valjean’s 
simple and unnamed gravestone, this type of theft must be severely addressed. 
This bill seeks to create a separate act of robbery under the Revised Penal Code for the 
robbery of cemetery items or the ones committed in cemeteries, graveyards or burial grounds. 
* N.C. - Peiiy v. Cullipher, 69 N.C. App. 761,318 S.E.2d 354 (1984) 


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FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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Second Regular Session 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
AMENDING THE REVISED PENAL CODE PENALIZING THE ROBBERY OF 
CEMETERY ARTlCLES 
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 “Anti-Grave Robbers Act.” 
SECTION 2. Article 302-A of the Revised Penal Code is hereby inserted after Article 
302, which shall read as follows” 
“ART. 302-A. Grave Robbery. - In cases enumerated in articles 299 and 
302, when the robbery consists in the taking of all or part of a tomb, coffin, 
monument, gravestone, or all or part of a commemorative, decorative, or other 
cemetery-related article or committed in a cemetery, graveyard or burial ground; 
the culprit shall suffer the penalty next higher in degree than that prescribed in the 
said articles.” 
SECTION 3. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts 
thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified 
accordingly. 
SECTION 4. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any provision of this Act is 
declared to be unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions hereof which are not 
affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. 


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Approved, 
SECTION 5. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days 
following its publication in the Oflcial Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
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