~('II.1lh 
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
t*,Hl~r 1tf ttt't j-rnrh'ru 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
'13 JUl -8 All :42 
SENATE 
S.No. 
568 
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EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Penal Code, Article 247 provides: 
Art. 247. Death or physical injurIes inflicted under exceptional 
circumstances. -- Any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in 
the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill any of 
them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon 
them any serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro. 
If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be 
exempt from punishment. 
These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to parents 
with respect to their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their seducer, 
while the daughters are living with their parents. 
Any person who shall promote or facilitate the prostitution of his wife or 
daughter, or shall otherwise have consented to the infidelity of the other spouse 
shall not be entitled to the benefits of this article. 
While the crimes of parricide and murder l1l1der the Penal Code are considered heinous 
crimes where the accused is meted capital punishment, this provision merely sentences the 
accused to destierro. This is not intended as a penalty but to remove the killer spouse or parent 
from the vicinity and to protect him or her from acts of reprisal principally by relatives of the 
deceased spouse or child. I 
The provision does not define a felony, but rather, exempts the accused from punishment. 
A parent of spouse is entitled to this benefit on the presumption that he or she would be acting in 
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a justified burst of passion. 2 
However, the article runs contrary to current state policy. The 1987 Constitution, Art. III 
Section 1 provides, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process 
1 People v. Luaron, C.A. 57 O.G. 7367, 
2 People v. Gonzales, 69 Phil. 66 (1939). 
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oflaw." This necessarily rejects the policy of allowing an individual to take the law into his own 
hands. Thus, the circumstances referred to in the Penal Code, Article 247 must be treated only as 
possibly mitigating the liability ofthe accused but should not provide absolute exemption. 
Further, domestic violence against women and excessive corporal punishment for 
children has been rejected by the passage of Republic Act No. 7610, otherwise known as the 
"Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act," and 
Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children 
Act of 2004." The latter provides: 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared that the State values 
the dignity of women and children and guarantees full respect for human rights. 
The State also recognizes the need to protect the family and its members 
particularly women and children, from violence and threats to their personal 
safety and security. 
Towards this end, the State shall exert efforts to address violence 
committed against women and children in keeping with the fundamental freedoms 
guaranteed under the Constitution and the Provisions of the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights, the convention on the Elimination of all fonns of 
discrimination Against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Child xxx. 
The Philippines' international obligations under the Convention of the Rights of the 
G:hild, Article 19 mandate that our government: 
xxx Take aU appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational 
measures to protect the child from aU forms of physical or mental violence, injury 
or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including 
sexual abuse, while in the care of parente s), legal guardians( s) or any other person 
who has care of the child. 
Article 247 of the Penal Code perpetuates a patriarchal framework to women; it assumes 
that young girls are under the custody of the men in the household; hence, they have no right to 
make decisions independent of their parents. 
Above all, Article 247 is a thinly disguised 
Philippine version of "honour killing." 
Honour killings can be defined as acts of murder in 
which "a woman is killed for her actual or perceived immoral behavior.,,3 Such "immoral 
behavior" may take the form of marital infidelity, demanding a divorce, or failing to serve a meal 
on time. 
3 Yasmeen Hassan, "The Fate of Pakistani Women," International Herald Tribune, 15 May 1999. 
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Such acts are abhorrent to our own current state policies and undermine the values we 
share with the international community. Thus, this law must be repealed.4 
4 This bill was originall filed during the Fifteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 
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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENAJE. 
s. No. 
ubS 
.§ }~rl1l t \' 
<t!Jfflt:t of t~t 5l'n ifhn ll-
'13 
JUL -8 An :42 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF ACT NO. 3815, ALSO KNOWN AS 
THE PENAL CODE, ON DEATH OR PHYSICAL INJURIES 
INFLICTED UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Article 247 of Act No. 3815, also known as the Penal Code, is hereby 
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repealed: 
[Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional circumstances. 
-
Any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of 
committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill any of them or both 
of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious 
physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro. 
If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be 
exempt from punishment. 
These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to parents with 
respect to their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their seducer, while the 
daughters are living with their parents. 
Any person who shall promote or facilitate the prosittution of his wife or 
daughter, or hsall otherwise have consented to the infidelity of the other spouse 
shall not be entitled to the benefits of this article.] 
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SECTION 2. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
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order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or is inconsistent 
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with the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 3. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall tal(e effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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