SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
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AUG 13 P 3 :;0 
SENATE 
S. No. 1276 
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Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
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This proposed measure seeks to promote the sanctity of human dignity and 
recognizes that such dignity persists beyond a person's death. Further, this measure 
seeks to protect the sanctity of the human body and the personal effects found thereon 
from individuals seeking to desecrate or loot the same. 
Under this proposed measure, the term "desecrating a corpse" shall refer to acts 
of outraging of or scoffing at a corpse; taking away vital organs or any body part of a 
corpse for profit; illegal exhumation of bodies from cemeteries; burying of dead, 
including infants and fetuses, without securing prior approval and appropriate permits 
from local health units; dumping of dead persons, including infants and fetuses, in public 
places with the intent of abandoning the cadaver; selling cadavers to any individual or 
institution without securing approval and appropriate permit from local health units; 
mutilating the dead, including infants and fetuses, except for embalming and medical 
purposes; destruction of tombs and other private or public sites; and taking from a grave 
any personal property buried with the dead including but not limited to the coffin where 
the body is placed or the clothing, and jewelry worn. All these activities shall be deemed 
punishable under this Act. 
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Moreover, under this proposed measure, any person caught in possession of 
property buried with a corpse or in possession of organs taken from corpses shall be 
presumed to have committed the crime of looting, stealing, or desecrating and shall be 
punished under the provisions of this measure. 
Finally, the desecration of a corpse for any crime specified in Articles 246 to 260 
of the Revised Penal Code shall be considered an aggravating circumstance for such 
felonies. 
This measure is being proposed in order to emphasize the sanctity of the human 
body and priority of the State to preserve this inviolable dignity of the human being. 
In view of the foregoing, early passage of this bill is earnestly requested. 
0-0.0 
MANUEL "LITO" M. LAP!~ 
, 
Senator 
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SIXTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SEN AT.E 
S. No. 1276 
) 
) 
) 
Introduced by Senator Manuel "Lito" M. Lapid 
AN ACT 
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AUG 13 P 3 :10 
DEFINING AND PENALIZING THE CRIMES OF LOOTING FROM, 
STEALING FROM, AND DESECRATING CORPSES 
AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
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SECTION 1. 
Declaration of Policy . • The State recognizes the sanctity 
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of human dignity and declares that the protection thereof upholds the State's 
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responsibility to defend basic human rights. Further, the State acknowledges that a 
person's dignity persists beyond death, and as such, it is in the best interest of the 
public that protection of the same continue beyond a person's death. 
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SEC. 2. 
Definition of Terms. 
• As used in this Act, unless the context 
otherwise requires, the following shall mean: 
(a) 
"Dead" shall refer to any deceased person or persons; 
(b) 
"Infants" shall refer to any child or c\1ildren less than three (3) days old; 
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(c) 
"Fetuses" shall refer to any human being from fertilization until birth; 
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(d) 
"Cadaver" shall refer to the body of any dead person; 
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(e) 
"Mutilating" shall refer to any act carried out with the intention of cutting or 
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chopping off any part of the human body; 
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(f) 
"Grave" shall refer to any tomb or site where the dead is buried; 
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(g) 
"Embalming" shall refer to preparing, disinfecting and preserving a dead 
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body for its final disposal; 
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(h) 
"Natural Calamity" shall refer to natural catastrophes through forces of 
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nature and beyond human control (Le. earthquakes, typhoons, volcanic 
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eruption, etc.); 
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(i) 
"Man-made calamities and accidents" shall refer to tragedies of human 
origin (Le. firs, nuclear, industrial, chemical and electrical disasters); 
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"Looting" shall refer to plunder in voluminous quantity which is not less 
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than Twenty Thousand Pesos (Php20,000.00) but not exceeding Fifty 
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Million Pesos (Php50,000,000.00); 
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(k) 
"Stealing" shall refer to robbery as defined under Articles 299, 300, and 
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(I) 
302, or theft as defined under Article 308 of the Revised Penal Code; 
"Desecrating the victim" shall refer to the following: 
(1) 
any act of disrespect; 
(2) 
outraging or scoffing at the corpse; 
(3) 
taking away vital organs or the corpse itself for profit; 
(4) 
illegal exhumation of dead bodies in cemeteries; 
(5) 
burying the dead, including infants and fetuses, without securing 
approval and appropriate permits from local health units; 
(6) 
dumping of dead persons, including infants and fetuses, in public 
places with the intent of abandoning the cadaver; 
(7) 
having sexual contact or activity with the dead; 
(8) 
selling the cadaver to any individual or institution without securing 
approval and appropriate permit from local health units; 
(9) 
conducting any medical study or experiment on the dead including 
infants and fetuses, without securing approval and appropriate 
permits from local health units; 
(10) 
mutilating the dead, including infants and fetuses, except for 
embalming and medical purposes; 
(11) 
destruction of tombs and other private or public sites; and 
(12) 
taking from the grave the personal property buried with the dead 
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including but not limited to the coffin, clothing, and jewelry buried. 
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SEC. 3. 
Penalties. - The penalty of prison correcciona/ and/or a fine 
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ranging from Fifty Thousand Pesos (Php50,000:00) to One Hundred Thousand Pesos 
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(Php100,000.00), at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed upon any person who 
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shall commit the crime of looting from or stealing from a corpse, as defined under this 
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Act. 
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The penalty of prison mayor shall be imposed upon any person who commits the 
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crime of desecration of a corpse. 
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In case the offender is a government employee, officer, or official; or any such 
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person in authority, as defined in Article 152 of Revised Penal Code; or a law 
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enforcement officer, the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed. 
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SEC. 4. 
Prima Facie Evidence of' Commission of the Crime. -
Any 
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person caught in possession of the property of the deceased or in possession of the 
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organs of a corpse shall be presumed to have committed the crime of looting, stealing, 
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.or desecrating as defined in pection 2 hereof. 
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SEC. 5. 
Responsibility of the Local Health Units, - In addition to the 
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responsibilities with regard to the disposal of the body of a deceased person, as cited in 
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Section 100 of Presidential Decree No. 856, otherwise known as the Code on 
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Sanitation, local health units shall also issue the permits necessary to implement the 
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provisions of this Act. 
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SEC. 6. 
Aggravating Circumstances. - The commission of desecration of 
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a corpse for any crime specified in Articles 246 to 260 of the Revised Penal Code shall 
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be considered an aggravating circumstance for such felonies. 
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SEC. 7. 
Separability Clause. - If any part or provision of this Act shall be 
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held unconstitutional or invalid, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby 
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shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
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SEC. 8. 
Repealing Clause. - All laws, presidential decrees, executive 
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orders, proclamations, rules or regulations, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with 
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the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
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SEC. 9. 
Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in the Official Gazette or two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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