Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE!
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 4936 _

Introduced by Hon. Silvestre H. Bello, D1

EXPLANATORY NOTE

One achievement the Philippines can always be proud of in the
legislative arena is that it holds the distinction of being the first, and still
the only country in Asia to categorically define, criminalize, and penalize
the act of involuntary disappearance — a grievous affront to fundamental
human rights. When Republic Act No. 10353, the Anti-Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearances Law of 2012 came into force on 13 January
2013, this country took the proverbial first step in the journey of a
thousand miles toward the destination of putting an end to the culture of
impunity.

The law incorporated such features as the crime, exemptions from
the claim of exempting circumstances, vicarious liability for
commanding officers, and limitations on amnesty. It even took novel
steps such as the extension of complementary protection in a manner
not unlike the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees to
persons in danger of being forcibly disappeared if they are returned,
deported, or extradited to their home countries.

However, first steps, as they usually come, are rarely ever flawless.
And its passage, while generally welcomed, was not without its critics.
These critics took issue with the law's constricted focus on State actors or
private parties acting under the auspices of the State.

The critics were correct.
The unwarranted attention given to State actors took some

shimmer out of the flashpoint moment. For indeed, there is no difference
between the same acts committed by State officials, State-funded or


sanctioned perpetrators, and private persons or groups without the
permission of the State. The distinction was uncalled for and a
calibration is in order.

This law seeks to amend the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance Act of 2012 to punish the said crime even when
committed by non-state actors, who are accountable for a sizeable
number of disappearances carried out in the Philippines and should
accordingly be acknowledged and punished. Concomitantly, related
provisions, most notably those concerning liability and the effects
thereof, are likewise made applicable to these non-state groups.

Additionally, an Oversight Committee composed of the same
officers originally tasked with drafting the Implementing Rules and
Regulations of the Act shall be created to periodically monitor
compliance implementation of the various, multi-faceted provisions of
the Act.

All these seek to close the gaps which have been left open by the
original law, its implementing rules, and those which may have come
before it, to wit: the Revised Penal Code and other special penal laws,
and the judicial rules of habeas corpus and the writ of amparo.

More importantly, this addresses the reality that in the end it is the
victims and their parents, siblings, partners, children, and friends who
are affected when people are inexplicably spirited away, their respective
fates unknown and their earthly remains nowhere to be found. This is
twice as painful for those left; they know not what to do, continuously
hounded by questions and doubts and unable to move on with their lives.
The smallest measure of justice makes a world of difference.

Regardless of who the perpetrator is, the people affected and the
effects upon them are the same. Pain, come to think of it, is universal.

The foregoing, it is felt, are very compelling reasons for the
amendment of the original legislation.

SD . BELLO, IIL


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. _4936

Introduced by Hon. Silvestre H. Bello, IIT

AN ACT TO STRENGTHEN THE ANTI-ENFORCED OR.
INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE ACT OF 2012, AMENDING
FOR THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10353

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Section 3 (b) of Republic Act No. 10353, otherwise
known as the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012,
shall be amended to read as follows:

“(b) Enforced or involuntary disappearance refers to
the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of
INVOLUNTARY deprivation of liberty committed by agents
of the State or by persons or group of persons acting with OR
WITHOUT the authorization, support or acquiescence of the
State, OR ANY NON-STATE GROUPS, followed by a refusal
to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment
of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which
places such person outside the protection of the law.”

Section 2. Section 3(c) of the same Act is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“(c) Order of Battle refers to a document made by the
military, police or any law enforcement agency of the
government, OR ANY NON-STATE GROUPS, listing the
names of the persons and organizations that it perceives


to be enemies of the State.” [and which it considers as
legitimate combatants that it could deal with, through the
use of means allowed by domestic and international law)’.

Section 3. Section 3(d) of the same Act is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“(d) Victim refers to the person who has [suffered harm]
DISAPPEARED as a direct result of an enforced or
involuntary disappearance as defined in letter (b) of this
Section."

Section 4. Section 5 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 5. “Order of Battle” or Any Order of Similar
Nature, Not Legal Ground, for Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance — An “Order of Battle”, or any order of
similar nature, official or otherwise, from a superior officer
or public authority, OR ANY NON-STATE GROUPS, causing,
the commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance
is unlawful and cannot be invoked as a justifying,
MITIGATING or exempting circumstance. Any person
receiving such an order shall have the right to disobey it.”

Section 5. Section 9 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as
follows:

“Section 9. Duty of Inquest/Investigating Public Prosecutor
or any Judicial or Quasi-Judicial Official or Employee. - Any
inquest/investigating public prosecutor or any judicial or
quasi-judicial official or employee who learns that the
person delivered for inquest or preliminary investigation or
for any other process is a victim of enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall have the duty to immediately disclose
the victim’s whereabouts to his or her immediate family,
relatives, lawyer/s, or to a human rights organization by the
most expedient means.


HE SHALL ALSO HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE THE
REMOVAL OF THE VICTIM OF ENFORCED OR
INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE FROM HIS PRESENCE
UNLESS HE IS PERSONALLY ASSURED THAT THE
VICTIM’S FAMILY, RELATIVES, LAWYER/S OR A
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION HAVE BEEN
INFORMED OF THE VICTIM’SWHEREABOUTS.”

Section 6. The first paragraph of Section 10 of the same Act is
hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 10. Official Up-to-Date Register of All Persons
Detained or Confined. — All persons detained or confined
BY THE MILITARY, POLICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCIES shall be placed solely in officially recognized
and controlled places of detention or confinement where
an official up-to-date register of such persons shall be
maintained. Relatives, lawyers, judges, official bodies and
all persons who have legitimate interest in the whereabouts
and condition of the persons deprived of liberty shall have
free access to the register.”

Section 7. Section 14 of the same Act is hereby amended to read
as follows:

“Section 14. Liability of Commanding Officer or Superior.
— The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned
of the AFP or the immediate senior official of the PNP and
other law enforcement agencies WHO HAVE EFFECTIVE
COMMAND AND CONTROL, OR EFFECTIVE AUTHORITY
AND CONTROL, AS THE CASE MAY BE, OF THE FORCES
UNDER HIM/HER, shall be held liable as a principal to
the crime of enforced or involuntary disappearance for
acts committed by him or her that shall have led, assisted,
abetted or allowed, whether directly or indirectly, the
commission thereof by his or her subordinates. If such
commanding officer has knowledge of or, owing to the
circumstances at the time, should have known that an
enforced or involuntary disappearance is being committed,
or has been committed by subordinates or by others
within the officer’s area of responsibility and, despite such


knowledge, did not take preventive or coercive action either
before, during or immediately after its commission, when he
or she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations
of enforced or involuntary disappearance but failed to
prevent or investigate such allegations, whether deliberately
or due to negligence, shall also be held liable as principal.”

Section 8. Section 15 (5) (b) of the Act is hereby deleted.

“Section 15 (5) (b). The penalty of reclusion temporal and its
accessory penalties shall be imposed upon those who shall
commit ‘the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance
in the attempted stage as provided for and defined under
Article 6 of the Revised Penal Code.]”

Section 9. Section 15 (5)(c), together with its sub-numbers (1), (2)
and (3), is now assigned as Section 15 (5) (b).

Section 10. Section 15 (5)(c)(3) is amended and now reads as
follows:

“Section 15. - (5)(b)(3) “By harboring, concealing or assisting
in [the escape of the principal/s in the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance, provided such accessory acts are
done with the abuse of official functions] ANY MANNER
THE PERPETRATORS OF THE CRIME OF ENFORCED OR
INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE.”

Section 11. Section 21 is hereby amended to read as follows:

“Section 21 Continuing AND TRANSITORY CRIME
[Offense]. - [An act constituting] THE CRIME OF enforced
or involuntary disappearance shall be considered both a
continuing [offense] CRIME, as long as the perpetrators
continue to conceal the fate and whereabouts of the
disappeared person and such circumstances have not
been determined with certainty, AND A TRANSITORY
CRIME FOR PURPOSES OF PROSECUTING ITS
PERPETRATORS.”


Section 12. The first paragraph of Section 26 is hereby amended
to read as follows:

“Section 26. Restitution [and Compensation] to Victims of
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance and/or Their
Immediate Relatives. — The victims of enforced or
involuntary disappearance who surface alive shall be
entitled to [monetary compensation] rehabilitation and—
restitution of honor and reputation and shall include
immediate expunging or rectification of any derogatory
record, information or public declaration on his or her
person, personal circumstances, status, and/or
organizational affiliation by the appropriate government or
private agency or agencies concerned.”

Section 13. The second and third paragraphs of Section 26 are
hereby deleted.

“(The immediate relatives of a victim of enforced or
involuntary disappearance may also claim for compensation
as provided for under Republic Act No. 7309, entitled “An
Act Creating a Board of Claims under the Department of
Justice for Victims of Unjust Imprisonment or Detention
and Victims of Violent Crimes and For Other Purposes”, and
the relief programs of the government.]

[The package of indemnification for both the victims and
the immediate relatives within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity shall be without prejudice to other
legal remedies that may be available to them.]”

Section 14. Section 27 is hereby amended and new sub-sections
(a), (b) and (c) are added, to read as follows:

“Section 27. Rehabilitation of AND COMPENSATION
TO Victims and/or Their Immediate Relatives, and
Offenders. ~ In order that the victims of enforced or
involuntary disappearance who surfaced alive and/or
their immediate relatives within the fourth civil degree of
consanguinity or affinity, OR IMMEDIATE RELATIVES OF


VICTIMS WHO CONTINUE TO REMAIN MISSING AND
UNACCOUNTED FOR, may be effectively reintegrated into
the mainstream of society and in the process of development,
the State, or through the CHR, in coordination with the
Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare
and Development, and the concerned non-government
organizations, shall provide them with appropriate medical
AND PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELLING AND/OR CARE,
including rehabilitation, free of charge.”

a) VICTIMS WHO HAVE RESURFACED, AND/
OR THEIR RELATIVES, SHALL AUTOMATICALLY
BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE GOVERNMENT'S WITNESS
PROTECTION PROGRAM AND BENEFITS IF THEY
DESIRE TO PRESS CHARGES AGAINST THEIR
CAPTORS/ PERPETRATORS. THE RELATIVES OF
VICTIMS WHO REMAIN MISSING SHALL BE PROVIDED
APPROPRIATE GOVERNMENT PROTECTION AGAINST
PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE OR PHYSICAL HARM OR
FROM ANY FORM OF HARASSMENT IN THEIR QUEST
FOR JUSTICE FOR THEIR MISSING RELATIVES.

b) UPON PROPER VALIDATION, VICTIMS WHO
HAVE RESURFACED SHALL BE MONETARILY
COMPENSATED WITH THE AMOUNT OF PESOS TEN
THOUSAND (PHP10,000) FOR EVERY MONTH THAT
THEY REMAINED MISSING AS A RESULT OF THE
ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE TO
COMPENSATE FOR THEIR LOSS OF EARNING DURING
THE PERIOD OF SUCH ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY
DISAPPEARANCE.

©) UPON PROPER VALIDATION, THE IMMEDIATE
RELATIVES WITHIN THE FOURTH CIVIL DEGREE OF
CONSANGUINITY OR AFFINITY OF A VICTIM OF
ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE WHO
REMAIN MISSING AND UNACCOUNTED FOR MAY ALSO
CLAIM FOR COMPENSATION AS PROVIDED FOR
UNDER REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7309, ENTITLED “AN ACT
CREATING A BOARD OF CLAIMS UNDER THE


DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF
UNJUST IMPRISONMENT OR DETENTION AND
VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIMES AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES”, AND THE RELIEF PROGRAMS OF THE
GOVERNMENT.”

Section 15. The second paragraph of Section 27 is hereby
assigned as sub-section (d) and amended to read as follows:

d) “Towards the attainment of restorative justice, a
parallel rehabilitation program for persons who have
[committed] BEEN CONVICTED OF enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall likewise be implemented without cost to
such offenders.”

Section 16, A new paragraph is hereby appended to Section 27, to
read as follows:

“THE PACKAGE OF INDEMNIFICATION FOR BOTH THE
VICTIMS AND THE IMMEDIATE RELATIVES WITHIN
THE FOURTH CIVIL DEGREE OF CONSANGUINITY OR
AFFINITY SHALL BE WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO OTHER
LEGAL REMEDIES WHICH MAY BE AVAILABLE TO
THEM.”

Section 17. A new Section 29 is hereby inserted between Sections
28 and 30 of the same Act, to read as follows:

“Section 29. Monitoring of Compliance with this Act. -
An Oversight Committee is hereby created to periodically
oversee the implementation of this Act. The committee shall
be headed by an undersecretary of the DOJ and with at least
one representative from each member-agency/organization
of the Implementing Rules and Regulations Committee.”

Section 18. Sections 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 of the same Act are
hereby renumbered accordingly.


Section 19, Separability Clause. If, for any reason, any provision
of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other parts or
provisions hereof which are not affected shall continue to be in full force
and effect.

Section 20. Repealing Clause. All laws, executive orders,
presidential decrees, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are
inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby repealed or
amended accordingly.

Section 21. Effectivity Clause. This Act shall take effect fifteen
(15) days after its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general
circulation or the Official Gazette, which shall not be later than seven (7)
days after the approval thereof.

Approved,