, ,  ~ i . . . . i  
Republic of the Philippines 
) 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS ) 
First Regular Session 
1 
SENATE 
Introduced by Senator FRANCIS G. ESCUDERO 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
In ancient times, torture was a tool used for punishing criminals for various 
crimes. It was also a means of interrogating prisoners of war to gather tactical military 
information on the enemy and was even used as an instrument for political re- 
education. In the middle ages, it was used to extract confessions or testimonies from 
suspects in judicial inquiries or trials. However, when societies progressed and as 
people became more conscious of the sanctity of life, torture became widely condemned 
as an extreme violation against human rights that has no place in a “civilized world.” 
Even the occurrence of war does not justify its practice, 5s called farin-the four Genera 
Conventions. 
On December 10, 1984, the United Nations (UN) adopted and opened for 
signature, the ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 39/46, 
better known as the Convention against Torhire and Other Cruel, Inhuman or 
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (entered into force on 26 June 1987, in accordance 
with article 27 (1) ). Article 2 of the resolution stated guiding principles on how each 
state should address the occurrence of torture in their areas which are as follows: 
1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other 
measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction. 
2. No exceptional &cmmstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of 
war, internal political in stability or m y  other public emergency, may be invoked 
as a justification of torture. 
3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a 
justification of torture. 
Unfortunately, even with the existence of the UN accord, torture is still taking 
place in various forms in almost any place in the world, even in our own shores. Their 
use is motivated by a variety of reasons, which includes those stated earlier. 
As a nation that considers itself to be a strong, peace-loving and law abiding 
state that upholds hwnan rights, it should be ow obligation ad responsibility that such 
atrocious acts be stopped ai least in our area, for we owe it to our citizenq to give them 
a society that is free from tyranny, coercion or oppression from anyone or from any 
quarters in our country. 
FRANCIS G. ESCUDERO 


Republic of the Philippines 
) 
FOURlXEN" CONGRESS ) 
First Regular Session 
1 
SENATE 
Bill No, 
Introduced by Senator FRANCIS G. ESCUDERO 
AN ACT 
PENALIZING THE COMMISSION OF ACTS OF TORTURE AND OTHER 
CRUEL, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENTS, 
PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House OfRepresentatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assem bled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. -This Act shall be known as the "Anti-Torture Act 
of2007". 
@ 
SEC. 2. Statement ofPolicy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State: 
(a) To ensure that the rights of all persons, including suspects, 
detainees and prisoners are respected at all times; and that no 
person placed under investigation or held in custody of any 
person in authority shall be subjected to physical harm, force, 
violence, threat or intimidation or any act that impairs his/her 
free wiU; and 
(b) To fully adhere to the principles and standards on the absolute 
condemnation and prohibition of torture set by the 1987 
Philippine Constitution and various international instruments, 
such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 
(ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination 
Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention Against Torture 
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or 
Punishment (CAT), to which the Philippines is a State party. 
SEC. 3. Torture, When Committed. - "Torture" shall be deemed committed 
when an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is 
intentionally inflicted on a person 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, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the 
instigation of or within the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other 
person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising 
only from inherent or incidental to lawful sanctions. For purposes of this Act, 
torture shall include, but not be limited to, the following: 


(a) Physical torture, which shall be understood as referring to such 
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment which causes pain, 
exhaustion, disability or dysfunction of one or more parts of the 
body, such as: 
(1) Systematic beatings, headbangings, punching, kicking, striking 
with truncheons, rifle butts and jumping on the stomach; 
(2) Food deprivation or forcible feeding with spoiled food, animal 
or human excreta or other food not normally eaten; 
(3) Electric shocks; 
(4) Cigarette burning, b h g  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 wounds; 
(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 
positions; 
(7) Rape and sexual abuse, including the insertion of foreign bodies 
into the sex organs or rectum or electrical torture of the genitals; 
(8) Other forms of sexual abuse; 
(9) Mutilation, such as amputation of the essential parts of the body 
such as the genitalia, ears, tongue, etc.; 
(10) Dental torture or the forced extraction of the teeth; 
(11) Harmful exposure to the elements such as sunlight and 
extreme cold; 
(12) The use of plastic bags 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 wiU of a person, such as: 
(i) 
Administration of drugs to induce confession and/or 
reduce mental competency; or 
The use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain 
symptoms of disease; or 
(ii) 
(14) Other forms of aggravated and deliberate cruel, inhuman or 
degrading physical and/or pharmacological treatment or 
punishment; and 


(b) Mental/psychological torture, which shall be understood as 
referring to such cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment calculated 
to affect or confuse the mind and/or undermine a person’s dignity 
and morale, such as: 
(1) Blindfolding; 28 
(2) Threatening a person or such persons related or known to 
him/her with bodily harm, execution or other wrongful acts; 
(3) Confinement in solitary cells put up in public places; 
(4) Confinement in solitary cells against their will or without 
prejudice to their security; 
(5) Prolonged interrogation so as to deny normal length of sleep 
and/or rest; 
(6) Preparing a prisoner for a “show trial”, public display or public 
humiliation, considerably defeating the political effectiveness of 
the prisoner; 
(7) Causing unscheduled transfer/s of a person from one place to 
another, creating the belief that he/she shall be summarily 
executed; 
(8) Maltreating a member of the person or person/s’ family; 
(9) Causing the torture sessions to be witnessed by the person/s’ 
family, relatives or any third party; 
(10) Inculcating generalized fear among certain sections of the 
population; 
(11) Denial of sleep/rest; 
(12) Shame infliction such as stripping the person/s naked, 
parading them in public places, shaving their heads or putting 
marks on their bodies against their will; 
(13) Confinement in jails and prisons under intolerable subhuman 
conditions; or 
(14) Other forms of deliberate and aggravated cruel, inhuman or 
degrading mental treatment or punishment. 
SEC. 4. 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. Secret detention places, 
solitary, incommunicado or other similar forms of detention, where torture may 
be carried on with impunity, are hereby prohibited. Any confession, admission 
or statement obtained as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in 


any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that said 
confession. admission or statement was made. 
SEC. 5. Protection of Persons Involved in Prosecution. - Any individual who 
alleges he/she has been subjected to torture shaU have the right to complain to 
and to have &/her case promptly and impartially examined by any competent 
authorities. Steps shall be taken to ensure that the complainant is protected 
against all ill treatment or in~idation as a consequence of his/her complaint or 
any given evidence. Likewise, the State through its appropriate agencies shall 
ensure the safety of all other persons involved in the prosecution and 
investigation on cases of torture such as the legal counsel, witnesses and relatives 
of the victims of torture. They shall be protected from ill treatment and any act of 
intimidation or reprisal as a result of the complaint or investigation. Any person 
committing such acts shall be criminally liable. 
SEC. 6. Assistance in Filing a Complaint. - A party who suffered torture and 
other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, or any interested 
party on their behalf, may seek legal assistance in the proper handling and filing 
of the complaint from the regional offices of the Commission on Human Rights 
(CHR), the Barangay Human Rights Action Center nearest them, as well as from 
human rights nongovenunent organizations duly recognized by the government. 
SEC. 7. Right to Physical and Psychological Examination. - Every person 
arrested, detained or under custodial investigation shall have the right to be 
informed of his/her righf to demand a physical and psychological examination 
by an independent and competent doctor of &/her own choice before and after 
interrogation, which shall be conducted outside the influence of the police or 
security forces. If such person cannot afford the services of his/her own doctor, 
hejshe shall be provided by the State with a competent and independent doctor. 
If the person arrested is a female, she shall be provided with a female doctor. 
Furthermore, every person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation 
shall have the right to immediate access to quality medical heatment. The 
medical report shall include in detail the history and the findings of the physical 
and psychological examination and shall be attached to the custodial 
investigation report; otherwise, such investigation report shall be deemed null 
and void and of no effect whatsoever. Following applicable protocol agreed 
upon by agencies, medical reports shall, among others, include the following: 
(1) The name, age and address of the patient; 
(2) The name and address of the nearest kin of the patient; 
(3) The name and address of the person who brought the patient for 
physical and psychological examination; 
(4) The nature and probable cause of the patient’s injuries and trauma; 
(5) The approximate time and date when the injury and/or trauma was 
sustained; 
(6) The place where the injury and/or trauma was sustained; 
(7) The time, date and nature of treatment necessary; and 


(8) The diagnosis, the prognosis and/or disposition of the patient. 
Any person who does not wish to avail of the rights under this provision 
may knowingly and voluntarily waive such rights in writing. 
SEC. 8. Criminal Liability. - Torture as defined in Section 3 of this Act is 
hereby declared as a criminal act. Any person who actually participated in the 
infliction of torture or who is present during the commission of said act 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 
torture a victim for whatever purpose shall be held equally liable as principals. 
An order from a superior officer or from a superior in the office or public 
authority shall not be invoked as a justification of torture. 
SEC. 9. Liability. - The immediate commanding officer of the unit 
concerned of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) or the immediate senior 
public official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other law enforcement 
agencies shall be held liable as accessory to the crime for any act or omission or 
negligence on his part that may have led to the commission of torture by &/her 
subordinates. 
SEC. 10. Penalties. - (a) Torture resulting in the loss of life of any person 
shall be considered as murder and shall be punishable by reclusion perpetua. 
@) Torture with rape shall be punishable by reclusion perpetuu. 
(c) Torture resulting in mutilation shall be punishable by reclusion perpefua. 
(d) Any person found guilty of any other form of torture shail suffer: 
(1) The penalty of reclusion perpetua, i f  other forms of sexual abuse have 
also been committed and/or in consequence of torture, the victim 
shall become insane, imbecile, impotent, blind or maimed for life; 
(2) The penalty of reclusion perpetua, if committed against children; 
(3) The penalty of prision mayor in its medium and maximum periods, 
if in consequence of torture, the victim shall have lost the use 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 the 
work in which he/she was theretofore habitually engaged; 
(4) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods, if 
in consequence of torture, the victim shall have become deformed 
or shall have lost any other part of his/her body, or shall have lost 
the use thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for the 
performance of the work in which hejshe was habitually engaged 
for a period of more than ninety (90) days; 
(5) The penalty of prision correccionul in its maximum period to prision 
mayor in its minimum period, if the consequence of torture shall 


have caused the illness or incapacity for labor of the victim for 
more than thirty (30) days; and 
(6) The penalty of prision coweccional in its minimum period to pvision 
correccional in its medium period, if the consequence of torture shall 
have caused the illness or incapacity for labor of the victim for 
thirty (30) days or less. 
(e) Mental/psychological torture resulting in death, complete or partial 
amnesia, fear of going crazy, insanity or suicidal tendencies of the 
victim due to guilt, worthlessness or shame shall be punishable 
with reclusion temporal or a fine of not less than Fifty thousand 
pesos (P50,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court. 
The above penalties shall be without prejudice to the prosecution of other 
crimes and other legal remedies available to the victim under other existing 
law/s. 
SEC. 11. On Refouler. - No person shall be expelled, returned or extradited 
to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that such 
person would be in danger of being subjected to torture. For the purpose of 
determining whether there are such grounds, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs 
and the Secretary of Justice, in coordination with the Chairperson of the GIB, 
shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, 
the existence in the requesting State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or 
mass violations of human rights. 
SEC. 12. Compensafion to Victims of Torture. - Any person who has suffered 
torture shall have the right to claim for compensation as provided for under 
Republic Act No. 7309: Provided, That in no case shall compensation be any lower 
than Ten thousand pesos (P 10,000.00). Victims of torture shall also have the right 
to claim for compensation from such other financial relief programs that may be 
available to him/her. 
SEC. 13. Formulation ofa Rehabilitation Program. - Within one year from the 
effectivity of this Act, the Department of Social Welfare and Development 
(DSWD), together with the Department of Justice (DO8 and the Department of 
Health (DOH) and such other concerned government agencies, shall formulate a 
comprehensive rehabilitation program for victims of torture and their families. 
The DSWD, the DOJ and the DOH shall also call on human rights 
nongovernment organizations duly recognized by the government to actively 
participate in the formulation of a rehabilitation program that shall provide for 
the physical, mental, social, psychological and spiritual healing and development 
of victims of torture and their families. 
SEC. 14. Designation of Organizational Responsibility. - The AFP, the PNP 
and other law enforcement and investigative agencies shall ensure that the 
Eunction of overseeing the implementation of this Act shall be specifically 
assigned to a particular office or unit of the agency concerned. 
SEC. 15. Education and Information Campaign. - The CI-IR, the DOJ, the 
Department of National Defense and such other concerned parties in both the 
public and private sectors shall ensure that education and information regarding 


the prohibition against torture shall be fully included in the training of law 
enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials and 
other persons who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of 
any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. The 
Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education shall also 
ensure the integration of human rights education in the formal curricula of all 
primary, secondary and tertiary level academic institutions nationwide. 
SEC. 16. Suppletoy Applications. - The provisions of the Revised Penal 
Code shall be suppletory to this Act. 
SEC. 17. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DOJ and the CHR, with 
the active participation of human rights nongovernmental organizations, shall 
promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act. 
They shall also ensure the full dissemination of such rules and regulations to all 
officers and members of various law enforcement agencies. 
SEC. 18. 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. 
SEC. 19. 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. 
SEC. 20. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved,