SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
SV11Jl.h' 
(9HHf III H!c j?'-nT.rbr~ 
Second Regular Session 
) 
) 
) 
'15 
JUN -8 P 4 :18 
SENATE 
S.No. 
2810 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO ENSURE IMPROVED ACCOUNTABILTIY OF ANIMAL 
EXPERIMENTATION PROGRAMS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Republic Act No. 8485, also known as "The Animal Welfare Act of 1998" was 
enacted to protect and promote the welfare of all animals in the Philippines. The law 
mandates the supervision and regulation of the establishment and operations of all 
facilities utilized for breeding, maintaining, keeping, treating, or training of all animals 
either as objects of trade or household pets. 
The law, does not, however, provide for clear guidelines to ensure that animals 
used in local or international experimentation programs should be legally obtained from 
local sources. 
This bill, therefore, aims to increase accountability in the use of animals for 
educational, experimentation, or research purposes by institutionalizing the following: 
(A) To define the persons from whom the animals for research can be legally 
obtained; 
(B) To require the reporting on animal experimentation programs by the Executive 
Officials concerned; and 
1 


(C) To penalize violators ofthis Act. l 
1 This bill was originally filed dnring the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 
2 


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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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) 
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ogH!f[ 'if ttp_; ;::fHulJr~ 
Second Regular Session 
'15 
JUN -8 P4 :18 
SENATE 
S.No. 2810 
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"1. _____ . __ ~ 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
AN ACT 
TO ENSURE IMPROVED ACCOUNTABILTIY OF ANIMAL 
EXPERIMENTATION PROGRAMS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
1 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Accountability in 
2 
Using Animals for Research Act." 
3 
SECTION 2. Scope. - This Act aims to ensure that all animals used by research 
4 
facilities for educational, experimentation, or research purposes are obtained legally and 
5 
to require annual reporting on animal experimentation programs. 
6 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - For purposes of this Act, the term: 
7 
(A) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Committee on Animal Welfare, 
8 
as created by "The Animal Welfare Act of 1998." 
9 
(B) "Director" means the Director of the Bureau of Animal Industry; 
10 
(C) "Duly Licensed Dealer" means any person with a legitimate business of 
11 
buying or selling animals; "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock 
12 
company, corporation, association, trust, estate, pound, shelter, or other legal entity; 
13 
(C) "Research Facility" means any public or private entities created primarily for 
14 
research or education purposes; and 
15 
(D) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; 


I 
SECTION 4. Use of Animals. - No research facility, public or private, may use 
2 
any animal for research or educational purposes of the animal was obtained from a person 
3 
other than a person described in Section 5, and without prior authorization from the 
4 
Committee on Animal Welfare. 
5 
SECTION 5. Permissible Sources. - A person from whom a research facility may 
6 
obtain any animal for research or educational purposes, or a person who may sell or 
7 
donate any animal to a research facility, shall be: 
8 
(A) A duly licensed dealer that has bred and raised the animal; 
9 
(B) A publicly owned and operated pound or shelter; 
10 
(C) A person that is donating the animal and that: 
II 
(l) Bred and raised the animal; or 
12 
(2) Owned the animal for not less than one (1) year immediately receding 
13 
the donation; or 
14 
(D) A research facility registered by the Bureau of Animal Industry; 
15 
SECTION 6. Prohibition on Sale or Donation of Animals. - No person, other than 
16 
a person described in Section, may sell or donate, or offer for sale or donation, any 
17 
animal to any local or international research facility. 
18 
SECTION 7. Annual Reporting. - The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 
19 
Congress which shall provide: 
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(A) Information on the procedures likely to produce pain or distress in any animal 
21 
and assurances demonstrating that the principal investigator considered alternatives to 
22 
those procedures; 
23 
(B) Assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that such facility is adhering to the 
24 
standards described in this Act and other related statutes on the matter; 
25 
(C) An explanation for any deviation from the prescribed standards; 
2 


1 
(D) Information regarding where animals used by such research facility were 
2 
obtained; 
3 
(E) An accurate count of all animals of all species, including rats, mice, and birds, 
4 
obtained from local sources and used by local research facilities; 
5 
(F) An accurate count of all animals of all species, including rats, mice and birds, 
6 
obtained from local sources and used by international research facilities; and 
7 
(G) Information regarding the general purposes of the animal experimentation 
8 
program or research facility. 
9 
It shall be the duty of the Secretary, with the cooperation of the Director and the 
10 
Chairman, to develop a system for obtaining and consolidating the data, and a system for 
11 
releasing relevant information to the public. 
12 
SECTION 8. Penalty. - Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act 
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shall, upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment of not less than 
14 
six (6) months nor more than two (2) years of a fine not less than One Thousand Pesos 
15 
(1'1,000) nor more than Five Thousand Pesos (1'5,000) or both at the discretion of the 
16 
Court. If the violation is committed by a juridical person, the officer responsible therefor 
17 
shall serve the imprisonment when imposed. If the violation is committed by an alien, he 
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or she shall be immediately deported after service of sentence without any further 
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proceedings 
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SECTION 9. No Required Sale or Donation. - Nothing in this Act requires a 
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pound or shelter to sell or donate, or offer to sell or donate, any animal to a research 
22 
facility. 
3 


1 
SECTION 10. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is held invalid or 
2 
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other 
3 
provisions hereof. 
4 
SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, and issuances, or 
5 
portions thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby 
6 
repealed, amended or modified accordingly. 
7 
SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
8 
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general 
9 
circulation. 
Approved, 
Irapt4June20 15 
4