FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SENfg:so 
S.No. ___ _ 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
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 a 
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 
(C) To penalize violators of this Act. l 
1 This bill was re-filed during the Thirteenth Congress, First Regular Session. 


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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
) 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
First Regular Session 
) 
SEN~lJl....O 
S. No. --,~=--,O_ 0_ 
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: 
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SECTlON 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Accountability in Using 
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Animals felr Research Act." 
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SECTION 2. Scope. - This Act aims to ensure that all animals used by research facilities 
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for educational, experimentation, or research purpose-s are obtained legally and to require annual 
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reporting on animal experimentation programs. 
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SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. -For purposes of this Act, the term: 
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(A)"Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, joint stock company, corporation, 
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association, trust, estate, pound, shelter, or other legal entity; 
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(B) "Research Facility" means any public or private entities created primarily for 
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research or education purposes; 
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(C) "Duly Licensed Dealer" means any person with a legitimate business of buying or 
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selling animals; 
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(D) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture; 
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(E) "Director" means the Director of the Bureau of Animal Industry; and 
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(F) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Committee on Animal Welfare, as created by 
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"The Animal Welfare Act of 1998." 
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SECTION 4. Use of Animals. - No research facility, public or private, may use any 
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animal for research or educational purposes of the animal was obtained from a person other than 
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a person described in Section 5, and without prior authorization from the Committee on Animal 
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Welfare. 
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SECTION 5. Permissible Sources. - A person from whom a research facility may obtain 
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any animal for research or educational purposes, or a person who may sell or donate any animal 
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to a research facility, shall be: 
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(A) A duly licensed dealer that has bred and raised the animal; 
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(B) A publicly owned and operated pound or shelter; 
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(C) A person that is donating the animal and that: 
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(1) Bred and raised the animal; or 
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(2) Owned the animal for not less than one (1) year immediately receding the 
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donation; or 
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(D) A research facility registered by the Bureau of Animal Industry; 
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SECTION 6. Prohibition on Sale or Donation of Animals. - No person, other than a 
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person described in Section, may sell or donate, or offer for sale or donation, any animal to any 
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local or international research facility. 
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SECTION 7. Annual Reporting. - The Secretary shall submit an annual report to 
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Congress which shall provide: 
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(A) Information on the procedures likely to produce pain or distress in any animal and 
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assurances demonstrating that the principal investigator considered alternatives to those 
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procedures; 
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(B) Assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that such facility is adhering to the standards 
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described in this Act and other related statutes on the matter; 
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(C) An explanation for any deviation from the prescribed standards; 
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(D) Information regarding where animals used by such research facility were obtained; 
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(E) An accurate count of all animals of an species, including rats, mIce, and birds, 
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obtained from local sources and used by local research facilities; 
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(F) An accurate count of all animals of all speCIes, including rats, mIce and birds, 
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obtained from local sources and used by international research facilities; and 
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(G) Information regarding the general purposes of the animal experimentation program or 
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research facility. 
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It shall be the duty of the Secretary, with the cooperation of the Director and the 
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Chairman, to develop a system for obtaining and consolidating the data, and a system for 
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releasing relevant information to the public. 
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SECTION 8. Penalty. - Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, 
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upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months 
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nor more than two (2) years of a fine not less than One Thonsand Pesos (PI,OOO.OO) nor more 
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than Five Thousand Pesos (P5,OOO.OO) or both at the discretion of the Court. If the violation is 
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committed by a juridical person, the officer responsible therefor shall serve the imprisonment 
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when imposed. If the violation is committed by an alien, he or she shall be immediately deported 
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after service of sentence without any further proceedings 
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SECTION 9. No Required Sale or Donation. - Nothing in this section requires a pound or 
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shelter to sell or donate, or offer to sell or donate, any animal to a research facility. 
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SECTION 10. Separability Clause - If any provision or part hereof is held invalid or 
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unconstitutional, the remainder of the law or the 'provision not otherwise affected shall remain 
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valid and sUbsisting. 
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SECTION 11. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive 
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order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation contrary to or inconsistent 
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with, the provision of this Act is hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 12. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
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publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved. 
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