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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 4171
Introduced by HON. ROBERT ACE S. BARBERS:

AN ACT REQUIRING MANDATORY AUTOPSY ON BODIES OF CRIME VICTIMS, DEATHS
UNDER MYSTERIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

‘An autopsy is necessary to determine the cause and manner of death, the state of
health of the person before he or she died, and whether any medical diagnosis and treatment
before death was appropriate. In sensitive cases, a timely and competent autopsy is
fundamental to the proper investigation of any suspicious death.

Section 95 (b)(1) of Presidential Decree No. 856 or the Code on Sanitation of the
Philippines states that a special law may be created to perform autopsies on certain cases. So
far, no law has been enacted requiring an autopsy to be done on victims who have suffered
from crimes or from dubious accidents.

It is for the greater public interest that the government congdct putopsies under the
foregoing circumstances in the pursuit of justice.

In view of the foregoing, approval of this bill is highly sou

HON. ROBERT ACE S. BARBERS:


CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPINES )
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS —).
First Regular Session )

HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by HON. ROBERT ACE S. BARBERS

AN ACT REQUIRING MANDATORY AUTOPSY ON BODIES OF CRIME VICTIMS, DEATHS
UNDER MYSTERIOUS AND SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

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 the “Mandatory Autopsy Law.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State to ensure that justice is served and
that the greater public interest prevails in the investigation and resolution of crimes and deaths
resulting therefrom and under mysterious and suspicious circumstances. Towards this end, to
ensure that a scientific analysis on a victim's death is complete, factual, and reliable, autopsies
on the bodies of the victims is a must.

Section 3. Autopsy and dissection of remains. Mandatory autopsy shall be performed on
patients who die in the following cases, subject to Section 95 (b)(c) of Presidential Decree 856
or the Code on Sanitation of the Philippines:

a) deaths resulting from commission of crimes;

b) sudden deaths not caused by readily recognizable disease, or wherein the cause of
death cannot be property certified by a physician on the basis of prior (recent) medical
attendance;

©) deaths occurring under suspicious circumstances, including those where alcohol, drugs
or other toxic substances may have had a direct bearing on the outcome;

d) deaths occurring as a result of violence or trauma, whether apparently homicidal,
suicidal or accidental (including, but not limited to, those due to mechanical, thermal,
chemical, electrical or radiational injury, drowning, cave-ins and subsidences);

e) any death in which trauma, chemical injury, drug overdose or reaction to drugs or
medication or medical treatment was a primary or secondary, direct or indirect,
contributory, aggravating or precipitating cause of death;

f) operative and perioperative deaths in which the death is not readily explainable on the
basis of prior disease;

9) any death wherein the body is unidentified or unclaimed;


h) deaths known or suspected as due to contagious disease and constituting a public
hazard;

i) deaths occurring in prison or a penal institution or while in the custody of the police;

j) deaths of persons whose bodies are to be cremated, buried at sea or otherwise
disposed of so as to be thereafter unavailable for examination;

k)_ sudden infant death syndrome; and
1) stilbirths.

Section 4. Person authorized to autopsy. The autopsy and dissection of remains shall be
performed by any of the following qualified persons:

a) Government health officers;
b) Medical officers of law enforcement agencies; and
c) Members of the medical staff of accredited hospitals.

Section 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Philippine National Police, National
Bureau of Investigation and Department of Health shall promulgate the necessary rules and
regulations for the implementation of this Act. This shall be done immediately within 60 days
after the enactment of this law.

Section 6. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or other
issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed and
modified accordingly.

Section 7. Separability Clause. — If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this Act shall be
adjudged by any Court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
impair or invalidate the remainder of this Act, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause,
sentence, paragraph or part thereof directly involved.

Section 8. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved