FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
1 
Second Regular Session 
1 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
a 
SEP -2 
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S E N A T E  
Senate Bill No. 2 5 8 9 
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
International humanitarian law (IHL), often referred to as the laws of war, 
the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, defines the conduct 
and responsibilities of belligerent nations, neutral nations and individuals 
engaged in warfare, in relation to each other and to protected persons, usually 
meaning civilians. 
It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the 
hostilities and restricts the means and methods of warfare. 
The law is mandatory for nations bound by the appropriate treaties, the 
Philippines included as it is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. Such 
compliance is a matter of international concern. In addition, the suffering and 
destruction caused by violations of IHL render post-conflict settlements more 
difficult. There is therefore a political, as well as a humanitarian interest, in 
improving compliance with IHL not only in the Philippines but also, throughout the 
world. 
The enactment of this legislation is especially relevant given the existence 
of armed conflicts in our country with different militant groups and also because 
IHL is applicable to any armed conflicts, both international and non-international 
and irrespective of the origin of the conflict. It also applies to situations of 
occupation arising from an armed conflict. 
Henceforth, the immediate enactment of this legislation is earnestly 
sought. 


++.FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
Second Regular Session 
Senate Bill No. 2589 
1 INTRODUCED BY SEN. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL 
HUMANlTARlqN LAW AND OTHER SERIOUS INTERNATIONAL CRIMES, 
OPERATIONALJZING UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION, DESIGNATING SPECIAL 
j COURTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES 
by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 
assembled: 
PART 1. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS 
SECTION1 1 Short Title. This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Act on 
Crimes Against Ihternational Humanitarian Law and Other Serious International 
Crimes." 
I 
SEC. 2 D$claration of Principles and State Policies. 
a. hhe Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national 
policy, adppts the generally accepted principles of international law as part 
of the lad of the land and adheres to a policy of peace, equality, justice, 
freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations. 
b. iThe State values the dignity of every human person and 
guarantees full respect for human rights, including the rights of indigenous 
cultural cdmmunities and other vulnerable groups. 
c. i h e  principles, rules and regulations of the Hague Conventions 
and the Geneva Conventions on warfare and international humanitarian 
law form part of the law of our nation. 
D. 
~ The most serious crimes of concern to the international 
community as a whole must not go unpunished and their effective 
prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level, in 
order to ut an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and 
thus cont ! 
ibute to the prevention of such crimes, it being the duty of every 
State to ~ exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for 
international crimes. 
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E. The State shall guarantee persons suspected or accused of 
grave crimes under international law all rights necessary to ensure that 
their trials will be fair and prompt in strict accordance with international law 
and standards for fair trials. It shall also protect victims, witnesses and 
their families, and provide appropriate redress to victims and their families. 
PART 2. 
DEFINING AND PENALIZING THE MOST SERIOUS CRIMES OF 
INTERNATIONAL CONCERN 
SEC. 3. War Crimes. War crimes, or crimes against international 
humanitarian law (IHL), are hereby defined and penalized as follows: 
A. For the purpose of this Act, "war crimes" applicable in both international 
and non-international armed conflict means: 
1. Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, 
any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the 
provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention: 
a. Willful killing; 
b. Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments; 
c. Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health: 
d. Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by 
military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly; 
e. Willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular 
trial; 
f. Taking of hostages; 
g. Launching an attack against works or installations containing 
dangerous forces in the knowledge that such attack will cause 
excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian 
objects, and causing death or serious injury to body or health: and 
h. Making non-defended localities and demilitarized zones the object 
of attack, and causing death or serious injury to body or health. 
2. Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed 
conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely, 
any of the following acts: 
a. Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such 
or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities; 
b. Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, 
objects which are not military objectives; 
c. Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical 
units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of 
the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law; 
d. Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, 
material, units or vehicles involved in a humanitarian assistance or 
peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United 
Nations, as long as they are entitled to the protection given to 
civilians or civilian objects under the international law of armed 
conflict; 
e. Intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack 
will cause incidental loss of life or injury to civilians or damage to 
civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the 
natural environment which would be clearly excessive in relation to 
the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated; 
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f. Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, 
dwellings or buildings which are undefended and which are not 
military objectives; 
g. killing or wounding a combatant who, having laid down his arms or 
having no longer means of defense, has surrendered at discretion; 
h. Making improper or perfidious use of a flag of truce, of the flag or of 
the military insignia and uniform of the enemy or of the United 
Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva 
Conventions 
or 
other 
protective signs 
under 
international 
humanitarian law, resulting in death , serious personal injury or 
capture; 
i. Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to 
religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic 
monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are 
collected, provided they are not military objectives; 
j. Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to 
physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any 
kind, or to removal of tissue or organs for transplantation, which are 
neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the 
person concerned nor carried out in his or her interest, and which 
cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or 
persons; 
k. Killing, wounding or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy; 
I. Declaring that no quarter will be given; 
m. Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction 
or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war; 
n. 
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Pillaging a town or place: even when taken by assault; 
Ordering the displacement of the civilian population for reasons 
related to the conflict, unless the security of the civilians involved or 
imperative military reasons so demand; 
Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating 
and degrading treatment; 
Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced 
pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual 
violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva 
Conventions; 
Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to 
render certain points, areas or military forces immune from military 
operations; 
Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical 
units and transport, and personnel using the distinctive emblems of 
the Geneva Conventions in conformity with international law; 
Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by 
depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including 
willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the Geneva 
Conventions; 
Conscripting, enlisting or recruiting children under the age of 
eighteen years into the national armed forces or using them to 
participate actively in hostilities. 
Employing poison or poisoned weapons; 
Employing asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all 
analogous liquids, materials or devices; 
Employing bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human 
body, such as bullets with a hard envelope which does not entirely 
cover the core or is pierced with incisions; 
Employing weapons, projectiles and material and methods of 
warfare which are of a nature to cause superfluous injury or 


unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in 
violation of the international law of armed conflict; 
8. In case of a non-international armed conflict, serious violations of 
Article 3 common to the four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, 
any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active part in the 
hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms 
and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention or any other 
cause: 
1. Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, 
cruel treatment and torture; 
2. Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and 
degrading treatment; 
3. Taking of hostages: 
4. The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without 
previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all 
judicial guarantees which are generally recognized as indispensable. 
C. In case of an international armed conflict, the following grave breaches 
and serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in international armed 
conflict, within the established framework of international law, namely any of the 
following acts: 
1. Killing or wounding treacherously individuals belonging to the hostile 
nation or army; 
2. Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the 
forces of a hostile Power; 
3. Compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the 
operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were 
in the belligerent's service before the commencement of the war; 
4. Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement; 
5. The transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of 
its own civilian population into the territory it occupies, or the 
deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the occupied 
territory within or outside this territory; 
6. Declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law the 
rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party; 
7. Willfully depriving a prisoner of war of the rights of fair and regular trial; 
8. Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or civilians. 
D. The foregoing provisions applicable to non-international armed conflicts 
shall not apply to situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, 
isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a similar nature, as not 
being armed conflicts. 
E. Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall be invoked for the purpose of 
affecting the sovereignty of the State or the responsibility of the government to 
maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the national unity 
and territorial integrity of the State, by all means that are lawful under national 
and international law. 
F. The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal 
status of the parties to the conflict. 
G. Any person who commits any war crime as defined above shall suffer 
the main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of years within a range 
from 15 to 30 years. When justified by the extreme gravity of the crime, 
especially where it results in deaths and/or serious bodily injuries, and by the 
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individual circumstances of the convicted person, the Court may impose a term 
within a range from 30 to 40 years. 
SEC. 4. Genocide. Genocide is hereby defined and penalized as follows: 
A. For the purpose of this Act, "genocide" means any of the following acts 
committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, 
religious, political, social or any similar stable and permanent group, as such: 
1. Killing members of the group; 
2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 
3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring 
4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; 
5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. 
B. Any person who commits genocide as defined above shall suffer the 
main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of years within a range from 
15 to 30 years. When justified by the extreme gravity of the crime, especially 
where it results in deaths and/or serious bodily injuries, and by the individual 
circumstances of the convicted person, the Court may impose a term within a 
range from 30 to 40 years. 
defined and penalized as follows: 
about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 
SEC. 5. Crimes Against Humanity. Crimes against humanity are hereby 
A. For the purpose of this Act, "crime against humanity" means any of the 
following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack 
directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack: 
1. Murder: 
2. Extermination; 
3. Enslavement; 
4. Deportation or forcible transfer of population; 
5. Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation 
6. Torture: 
7. Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced 
sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity; 
8. Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, 
racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other grounds that are 
universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection 
with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the 
court; 
of fundamental rules of international law; 
9. Enforced disappearance of persons; 
10 .The crime of apartheid; 
11. Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great 
suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical 
health. 
B. For the purpose of paragraph A: 
1. "Attack directed against any civilian population" means a course of 
conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in paragraph A 
against any civilian population, pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or 
organizational policy to commit such attack; 
2. "Extermination" includes the intentional infliction of conditions of life, 
inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring 
about the destruction of part of a population; 
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3. "Enslavement" means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching 
to the right of ownership over a person and includes the exercise of such power 
in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children; 
4. "Deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced 
displacement of the persons concerned by expulsion or other coercive acts from 
the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under 
international law; 
5. "Torture" means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, 
whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of 
the accused; except that torture shall not include pain or suffering arising only 
from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions; 
6. "Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful confinement of a woman 
forcibly made pregnant, with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any 
population or carrying out other grave violations of international law. This 
definition shall not in any way be interpreted as affecting national laws relating to 
pregnancy: 
7. "Persecution" means the intentional and severe deprivation of 
fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the 
group or collectivity; 
8. "The crime of apartheid" means inhumane acts of a character similar to 
those referred to in paragraph A, committed in the context of an institutionalized 
regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any 
other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that 
regime; 
9. "Enforced disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention or 
abduction of persons by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a 
State or a political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge that 
deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of those 
persons, with the intention of removing them from the protection of the law for a 
prolonged period of time. 
C. For the purpose of this Act, it is understood that the term gender" refers 
to the two sexes, male and female, and also to those of gay, lesbian and other 
sexual orientations, within the context of society. The term "gender" does not 
indicate any meaning different from the above. 
D. Any person who commits a crime against humanity as defined above 
shall suffer the main penalty of imprisonment for a specified number of years 
within a range from 15 to 30 years. When justified by the extreme gravity of the 
crime, especially where it results in deaths andlor serious bodily injuries, and by 
the individual circumstances of the convicted person, the Court may impose a 
term within a range from 30 to 40 years. 
SEC. 6. Additional Penalties. In addition to the main penalty of 
imprisonment imposed above, the Court may order a commensurate fine under 
established criteria; andlor a forfeiture of proceeds, property and assets derived 
directly or indirectly from that crime, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide 
third parties. The Court shall also impose the corresponding accessory penalties 
under the Revised Penal Code, especially where the offender is a public officer. 
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PART 3. SOME PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY 
SEC. 7. Non-Diminution of International Law. Nothing in this Act shall be 
interpreted as limiting or prejudicing in any way existing or developing rules of 
international law for purposes other than this Act. 
SEC. 8. Individual Criminal Responsibility. In addition to existing 
provisions in Philippine law on principles of criminal responsibility, the following 
principles shall also be applied: 
A. The appropriate Philippine Courts shall have jurisdiction over natural 
B. A person who commits a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court shall 
C. In accordance with this Act, a person shall be criminally responsible 
and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that 
person: 
1. Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another or 
through another person, regardless of whether that other person is criminally 
responsible; 
2. Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact 
occurs or is attempted; 
3. For the purpose of facilitating the commission of such a crime, aids, 
abets or otherwise assists in its commission or its attempted commission, 
including providing the means for its commission; 
4. In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted 
commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common 
purpose. Such contribution shall be intentional and shall either: 
persons pursuant to this Act. 
be individually responsible and liable for punishment in accordance with this Act. 
(i) 
Be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or criminal 
purpose of the group, where such activity or purpose involves the 
commission of a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court; or 
(ii) 
Be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit 
the crime; 
5. In respect of the crime of genocide, directly and publicly incites others 
6. Attempts to commit such a crime by taking action that commences its 
execution by means of a substantial step, but the crime does not occur because 
of circumstances independent of the person's intentions. However, a person who 
abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of 
the crime shall not be liable for punishment under this Act for the attempt to 
commit that crime if that person completely and voluntarily gave up the criminal 
purpose. 
to commit genocide; 
D. No provision in this Act relating to individual criminal responsibility shall 
SEC. 9. Irrelevance of Official Capacity. This Act shall apply equally to all 
persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official 
capacity as a Head of State or Government, a member of a Government or 
parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case 
exempt a person from criminal responsibility under this Act, nor shall it, in and of 
affect the responsibility of States under international law. 
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itself, constitute a ground for reduction of sentence. Immunities or special 
procedural rules which may attach to the official capacity of a person, whether 
under national or international law, other than the established constitutional 
immunity from suit of the Philippine President during hidher tenure, shall not bar 
the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over such a person. 
SEC. I O .  Responsibility of Commanders and Other Superiors. In addition 
to other grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes defined and penalized under 
this Act: 
A. A military commander or person effectively acting as a military 
commander shall be criminally responsible for such crimes committed by forces 
under his or her effective command and control, or effective authority and control 
as the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly 
over such forces. where: 
1. That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the 
circumstances at the time, should have known that the forces were committing or 
about to commit such crimes; and 
2. That military commander or person failed to take all necessary and 
reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their 
commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation 
and prosecution. 
B. With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in 
paragraph A, a superior shall be criminally responsible for such crimes 
committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and control, as a 
result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, 
where: 
1. The superior either knew or owing to the circumstances at the time, 
should have known that the subordinates were committing or about to commit 
such crimes; and 
2. The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures 
within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the 
matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution. 
SEC. 11, Non-Applicability of Statute of Limitations. The. crimes defined 
and penalized under this Act, their prosecution, and the execution of sentences 
imposed on their account, shall not be subject to any statute of limitations. 
SEC. 12. Superior Orders. The fact that a crime defined and penalized 
under this Act has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a 
government or of a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that 
person of criminal responsibility unless: 
A. The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the 
government or the superior in question; 
B. The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and 
C. The order was not manifestly unlawful. 
For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or crimes 
against humanity are manifestly unlawful. 
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PART 4. PROVISIONS FOR VICTIMS AND WITNESSES 
SEC. 13. Protection of Victims and Witnesses. In addition to existing 
provisions in Philippine law and procedural rules for protection of victims and 
witnesses, the following measures shall be undertaken: 
A. Philippine courts shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, 
physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and 
witnesses. In so doing, the Court shall have regard to all relevant factors, 
including age, gender, and health, and the nature of the crime, in particular, but 
not limited to, where the crime involves sexual or gender violence or violence 
against children. The Prosecution shall take such measures particularly during 
the investigation and prosecution of such crimes. These measures shall not be 
prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and 
impartial trial. 
B. As an exception to the general principle of public hearings, the Court 
may, to protect the victims and witnesses or an accused, conduct any part of the 
proceedings in camera or allow the presentation of evidence by electronic or 
other special means. In particular, such measures shall be implemented in the 
case of a victim of sexual violence or a child who is a victim or is a witness, 
unless otherwise ordered by the Court, having regard to all the circumstances, 
particularly the views of the victim or witness. 
C. Where the personal interests of the victims are affected, the Court shall 
permit their views and concerns to be presented and considered at stages of the 
proceedings determined to be appropriate by the Court in a manner which is not 
prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and 
impartial trial. Such views and concerns may be presented by the legal 
representatives of the victims where the courts consider it appropriate in 
accordance with the established rules of procedure and evidence. 
D. Where the disclosure of evidence or information pursuant to this Act 
may lead to the grave endangerment of the security of a witness or his or her 
family, the Prosecution may, for the purposes of any proceedings conducted prior 
to the commencement of the trial, withhold such evidence or information and 
instead submit a summary thereof. Such measures shall be exercised in a 
manner which is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused 
and a fair and impartial trial. 
SEC. 14. Repatriations to Victims. In addition to existing provisions in 
Philippine law and procedural rules for reparations to victims, the following 
measures shall be undertaken: 
A. The Court shall follow principles relating to reparations to, or in respect 
of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. On this basis, in 
its decision, the Court may, either upon request or on its own motion in 
exceptional circumstances, determine the scope and extent of any damage, loss 
and injury to, or in respect of, victims and will state the principles on which it is 
acting. 
B. The Court may make an order directly against a convicted person 
specifying appropriate reparations to, or in respect of, victims, including 
restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. 
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C. Before making an order under this section, the Court may invite and 
shall take account of representations from or on behalf of the convicted person, 
victims or other interested persons. 
D. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prejudicing the rights of 
victims under national or international law. 
PART 5. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS 
SEC. 15. Relationship with International Law. In the application and 
interpretation of this Act, Philippine Courts shall be guided by the following 
instruments, developments and references in international law: 
A. The 1949 Geneva Conventions I-IV and their 1977 Additional Protocols 
I & II; 
B. The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in 
the Event of Armed Conflict and its 1999 Second Protocol; 
C. Customary international humanitarian law; 
D. The 1948 Genocide Convention; 
E. The 2000 Optional Protocol to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the 
Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict; 
F. The 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, its 
Elements of Crimes, and its Rules of Procedure and Evidence; 
G. International criminal law jurisprudence from various international 
criminal tribunals; 
H. Relevant and applicable international human rights instruments and 
jurisprudence, mainly from the United Nations system; and 
I. Teachings of the most highly qualified publicists and authoritative 
commentaries on the foregoing sources as subsidiary means for the 
determination of rules of law. 
SEC. 16. Relationship with Military Law. The application of military law to 
persons subject to military law for acts which may be constitutive ofcrimes under 
this Act shall be without prejudice to the investigation, prosecution and trial of 
said persons for crimes under this Act. 
PART 6. JURISDICTION AND COURTS 
SEC. 17. Universal Jurisdiction. The State shall exercise jurisdiction over 
persons, whether military or civilian, suspected or accused of the crimes defined 
and penalized in this Statute, including Philippine forces on peacekeeping, 
combat or similar missions abroad, no matter where these crimes occurred, even 
if they took place in the territory of another state, involved suspects or victims 
who are not nationals or residents of the State, or posed no direct threat to the 
State's own particular security interests. 
However, in any of the latter cases, i.e. if the crimes took place in the 
territory of another state, involved suspects or victims who are not nationals or 
residents of the State, or posed no direct. threat to the State's own particular 
security interests, the relevant Philippine national authorities may dispense with 
prosecuting a crime punishable under this Act and in lieu thereof transfer 
suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international 
court, if any, or to another state which may prosecute or be prosecuting the crime 
due to some link with that state. 
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SEC. 18. Philippine Courts, Prosecutors and Investigators. The Regional 
Trial Courts of the Philippines shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over 
the international crimes punishable under this Act. Their judgments may be 
appealed or elevated to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Courf under 
the existing system of jurisdiction of Philippine courts. 
The appropriate instrumentalities of the State, namely the Supreme Court, 
the Department of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights, shall 
respectively designate special courts, prosecutors and investigators to 
investigate, prosecute and try, as the case may be, crimes under this Act. The 
special courts refer to designated branches of the Regional Trial Court and 
designated divisions of the Court of Appeals. 
The State shall ensure that judges, prosecutors and investigators, 
especially those designated for purposes of this Act, receive effective training in 
human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law. 
PART 7. FINAL PROVISIONS 
SEC. 19. Repealing Clause. All laws, presidential decrees and issuances, 
executive orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Statute are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 20. Separability Clause. If, for any reason or reasons, any part or 
provision of this Statute shall be held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts 
or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full 
force and effect. 
SEC. 21. Effectivity. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in two national newspapers of general circulation. This publication 
shall not be later seven (7j days after the approval hereof. 
Approved, 
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