Republic of the Philippines t..,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (38 és
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS.
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 1455

Introduced by Representative Xavier Jesus “XJ” D. Romualdo

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The late Representative Pedro P. Romualdo originally filed this bill in the
previous Congress.

Section 11, Article II of the Constitution provides that,

“Sec. 11. The State values the dignity of every human
person and guarantees full respect for human rights.”

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that,

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Moreover, Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights declares that,

“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular,
no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or
scientific experimentation.”

‘Acts of torture are, by themselves, deplorable and reprehensible, and may be
committed by anyone. Anti-torture legislation must, therefore, cover all acts
of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
regardless of the status, station, or personality of the perpetrator.

While Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment defines torture as:

“x x x any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for
such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person



information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a
third person has committed or is suspected of having
committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person,
or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when
such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other
person acting in an official capacity”

It also provides that:

“This article is without prejudice to any international
instrument or national legislation which does or may contain
provisions of wider application.”

Thus, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which the Philippines is a signatory
allows, if not encourages, “national legislation ‘whlch does or may contain
provisions of wider application.”

On November 10, 2009, the President signed into law Republic Act (“RA”)
No. 9745 entitled, “An Act Penalizing The Commission Of Acts Of Torture
And Other Cruel, Inhuman And Degrading Treatment Or Punishment,
Prescribing Penalties Therefor And For Other Purposes.” However, RA No.
9745 limits its coverage to acts of torture committed by and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment inflicted by “a person in
authority or an agent of a person in authority.” Thus, acts of torture
committed by members of insurgent groups, terrorist organizations, criminal
syndicates, and other private persons are not within the purview of, and are
not punished by, RA No. 9745.

It is incumbent upon Congress to pass legislation that punishes all acts of
torture and other forms cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It is our duty
to enact legislation that will protect each individual against these acts and to
prevent their occurrence. This measure seeks to improve Republic Act No.
9745 by punishing all acts of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment, whether the same be committed by public officials or
their agents or by private individuals.

It should also be recognized, however, that public officers are subject to a
higher standard of responsibility. Hence, this proposed measure provides
that where the offense is committed by a public officer who takes advantage
of his public position in the commission of the offense, the penalty to be
imposed shall be in its maximum period.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is earnestly and urgently

recommended.
K— a

XAVIER JESUS “XJ” D. ROMUALDO


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila
SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNo.___ 1455

Introduced by Representative Xavier Jesus “XJ” D. Romualdo

AN ACT

AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED NINE
THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIVE
ENTITLED, “AN ACT PENALIZING THE
COMMISSION OF ACTS OF TORTURE AND
OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING
TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT, PRESCRIBING
PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES.”

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the

Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section. Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9745 is hereby amended to

read, as follows:

Section 3. Definitions. — For purposes of this Act, the
following terms shall mean:

(a) “Torture” refers to an act by which
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or
mental, is intentionally inflicted on an individual
for such purposes as obtaining from him/her or a
third person information or a confession; punishing
him/her for an act he/she or a third person has
committed or is suspected of having committed; or
intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person;
or for any reason based on discrimination of any
kind. It does not include pain or suffering arising
only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful
sanctions.

(b) “Other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment” refers to a deliberate and


aggravated treatment or punishment not
enumerated under Section 4 of this Act, inflicted
by any person against an individual under his/her
custody or detention, whether such detention be
lawful or not, which attains a level of severity
causing suffering, gross humiliation or debasement
to the latter.

(c) “Victim” refers to the person
subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment as defined
above and any individual who has suffered harm as
a result of any act(s) of torture, or other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

(a) “Order of Battle” refers to a
document made by the military, police or any law
enforcement agency of the government, listing the
names of persons and organizations that it
perceives to be enemies of the State and that it
considers as legitimate targets as combatants that it
could deal with, through the use of means allowed
by domestic and international law.

Section 2. Section 4 of Republic Act No. 9745 is hereby amended to

read, as follows:

Section 4, Acts of Torture. - For purposes of this Act,
torture shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) Physical torture is a form of treatment
or punishment inflicted by any person, upon
another in his/her custody or detention, whether
such custody or detention is lawful or not, that
causes severe pain, exhaustion, disability or
dysfunction of one or more parts of the body, such
as:

(1) systematic beating, head banging,
punching, kicking, striking with truncheon or
rifle butt or other similar objects, and jumping
on the stomach;

(2) food deprivation or forcible feeding
with spoiled food, animal or human excreta
and other stuff or substances not normally
eaten;

(3) electric shock;


(4) cigarette burning; buming 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 wound(s);

(5) _ the submersion of the head in water
or water polluted with excrement, urine,
vomit and/or blood until the brink of
suffocation;

(6) being tied or forced to assume fixed
and stressful bodily position;

(7) rape and sexual abuse, including
the insertion of foreign bodies into the sex
organ or rectum, or electrical torture of the
genitals; .

(8) mutilation or amputation of the
essential parts of the body such as the
genitalia, ear, tongue, etc.;

(9) dental torture or the forced
extraction of the teeth;

(10) pulling out of fingernails;

(1) harmful exposure to the
elements such as sunlight and extreme cold;

(12) the use of plastic bag and
other materials placed over the head to the
point of asphyxiation;

(13) the use of psychoactive
drugs to change the perception, memory,
alertness or will of a person, such as: (i) the
administration of drugs to induce confession
and/or reduce mental competency; or (ii) the
use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain
symptoms of a disease; and

(4) other analogous acts of
physical torture; and

(b) | Mental/Psychological torture refers to
acts committed by any person which are calculated
to affect or confuse the mind and/or undermine a
person’s dignity and morale, such as:


(1) blindfolding;

(2) threatening a person(s) or his/her
relative(s) with bodily harm, execution or
other wrongful acts;

(3) confinement in solitary cells or
secret detention places;

(4) prolonged interrogation;

(5) preparing a prisoner for a “show
trial”, public display or public humiliation of
a detainee or prisoner;

(6) causing unscheduled transfer of a
person deprived of liberty from one place to
another, creating the belief that he/she-shall
be summarily executed;

(7) maltreating a member/s of a
person’s family;

(8) causing the torture sessions to be
witnessed by the person’s family, relatives or
any third party;

(9) denial of sleep/rest;

(10) shame infliction such as
stripping the person naked, parading him/her
in public places, shaving the victim’s head or
putting marks on his/her body against his/her
will;

(11) deliberately prohibiting the
victim to communicate with any member of
his/her family; and

(12) other analogous acts of
mental/psychological torture.

Section 3. Section 5 of Republic Act No. 9745 is hereby amended to

read, as follows:

Section 5. Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. — Other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment refers to a deliberate and aggravated
treatment or punishment not enumerated under Section 4 of this
Act, inflicted by any person against another person in custody


or under detention, which attains a level of severity sufficient to
cause suffering, gross humiliation or debasement to the latter.
The assessment of the level of severity shall depend on all the
circumstances of the case, including the duration of the
treatment or punishment, its physical and mental effects and, in
some cases, the sex, religion, age and state of health of the
victim.

Section 4. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9745 is hereby amended to

read, as follows:

Section 6. Freedom from Torture as a Non-derogable
Right. — Torture is hereby declared a criminal act. No
exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war
or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other
public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture.
‘The crime of torture, as defined and punished in this Act, shall
not be absorbed in the offenses of rebellion and insurrection as
defined in Article 134 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended.
An “Order of Battle” or any order from a superior officer or
public authority shall not be invoked as a justification for the
commission of torture.

Section 5. Section 12 of Republic Act No. 9745 is hereby amended

to read, as follows:

Section 12. Criminal Liability. - Any person who
actually participated or induced, directed or commanded
another in the commission of torture or other cruel, inhuman
and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated in
the execution of the act of torture by previous or simultaneous
acts shall be liable as principal. Any superior military, police or
law enforcement officer or senior government official who
issued an order to a lower ranking personnel to subject a victim
to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment for whatever purpose shall be held equally liable as
principal. Any person shall be liable as an accessory if he/she
has knowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment is being committed and
without having participated therein, either as principal or
accomplice, takes part subsequent to its commission in any of
the following manner:

(a) By himself profiting from or assisting
the offender to profit from the effects of the act of
torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment;



(3) Torture with rape;

(4) Torture with other forms of sexual abuse and, in
consequence of torture, the victim shall have become insane,
imbecile, impotent, blind or maimed for life; and

(5) Torture committed against children.

(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be
imposed on those who commit any act of mental/psychological
torture resulting in insanity, complete or partial amnesia, fear of
becoming insane or suicidal tendencies of the victim due to
guilt, worthlessness or shame; Provided that, if the offender is a
public officer who took advantage of his position in the
commission of the offense, the penalty herein prescribed shall
be imposed in its maximum period.

(c) The penalty of prision mayor in its medium and
maximum periods shall be imposed if, in consequence of
torture, the victim shall have lost the power 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 permanently incapacitated for
labor; Provided that, if the offender is a public officer who took
advantage of his position in the commission of the offense, the
penalty herein prescribed shall be imposed in its maximum
period.

(@) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and
medium. periods shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture,
the victim shall have become deformed or shall have lost any
part of his/her body other than those aforecited, or shall have
lost the use thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for
labor for a period of more than ninety (90) days; Provided that,
if the offender is a public officer who took advantage of his
position in the commission of the offense, the penalty herein
prescribed shall be imposed in its maximum period.

(e) The penalty of prision correccional in its
maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum period shall
be imposed if, in consequence of torture, the victim shall have
been ill or incapacitated for labor for more than thirty (30) days
but not more than ninety (90) days; Provided that, if the
offender is a public officer who took advantage of his position
in the commission of the offense, the penalty herein prescribed
shall be imposed in its maximum period.

( The penalty of prision correccional in its
maximum period shall be imposed on the immediate superior,
i Act, who, either deliberately or



by inexcusable negligence, failed to do an act even if he/she has
knowledge or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should
have known that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment shall be committed, is being
committed or has been committed by his/her subordinates or by
others within his/her area of responsibility and, despite such
knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action either
before, during or immediately after its commission, when
he/she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations of
torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment.

(g) The penalty of prision correccional in its
minimum and medium period shall be imposed if, in
consequence of torture, the victim shall have been ill or
incapacitated for labor for thirty (30) days or less; Provided
that, if the offender is a public officer who took advantage of
his position in the commission of the offense, the penalty herein
prescribed shall be imposed in its maximum period.

(h) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed for
acts constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment; Provided that, if the offender is a public officer
who took advantage of his position in the commission of the
offense, the penalty herein prescribed shall be imposed in its
maximum period.

Section 8. Separability Clause. ~ If any provision of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected

thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 9. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders
or rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this

Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 10. Effectivity. — ‘This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days

after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,