FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
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SEP 111 1"3:.14 
Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Penal Code Article 247 provides: 
Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional 
circumstances. -
Any legally married person who having surprised his 
spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, 
shall kill any of them or. both of them in the act or immediately 
thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall 
suffer the penalty of destierro. 
If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, 
he shall be exempt from punishment. 
These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to 
parents with respect to their daughters under eighteen years of age, and 
their seducer, while the daughters are living with their parents. xxx 
While the crimes of parricide and murder under the same code are considered heinous 
crimes where the accused is meted capital punishment, this provision merely sentences the 
accused to destierro. This is not intended as a penalty but to remove the killer spouse or parent 
from the vicinity and to protect him or her from acts of reprisal principally by relatives of the 
deceased spouse or child (People v. Luaron, C.A. 57 O.G. 7367). 
The provision does not define a felony, but rather, exempts the accused from punishment. 
A parent of spouse is entitled to this benefit on the presumption that he or she would be acting in 
a justified burst of passion [(People v. Gonzales, 69 Phil. 66 (1939)]. 
However, the article runs contrary to current state policy. The 1987 Constitution, Art. III 
Section I provides, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process 
oflaw." This necessarily rejects the policy of allowing an individual to take the law into his own 
hands. 
Thus, the circumstances referred to in Art. 247 must be treated only as possibly 
mitigating the liability of the accused but should not provide absolute exemption. 
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Further, domestic violence against women and excessive corporal punishment for 
children has been rejected by the passage of R.A. No. 7610 
otherwise Imown as "Special 
Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act" and R.A. No. 9262 
otherwise Imown as "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004." The 
latter provides: 
SEC. 2. Declaration ofPolicy.- It is hereby declared that the State 
values the dignity of women and children and guarantees full respect for 
human rights. The State also recognizes the need to protect the family 
and its members particularly women and children, from violence and 
threats to their personal safety and security. 
Towards this end, the State shall exert efforts to address violence 
committed against women and children in keeping with the fundamental 
freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution and the Provisions of the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the convention on the 
Elimination of all forms of discrimination Against Women, Convention 
on the Rights of the Child xxx. 
The Philippines' international obligations under the Convention of the Rights 
of the Child Article 19 mandate that our government: 
xxx Take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and 
educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or 
mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, 
maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse, while in the care of 
parente s), legal guardians(s) or any other person who has care of the 
child. 
Article 247 perpetuates a patriarchal framework to women; it assumes that 
young girls are under the custody of the men in the household; hence, they have no 
right to make decisions independent of their parents. Above all, Article 247 is a 
thinly disguised Philippine version of "honour killing." 
Honour killings can be 
defined as acts of murder in which "a woman is killed for her actual or perceived 
immoral behavior." [Yasmeen Hassan,"The Fate of Pakistani Women," International 
Herald Tribune, (25 May 1999)]. Such "immoral behavior" may take the form of 
marital infidelity, demanding a divorce, or failing to serve a meal on time.) 
Such acts are abhorrent to our own current state policies and undermine the 
values we share with the international community. Thus, this law must be repealed. 


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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLIC 
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'OfFICE, I) 1:-, S,:n;:'t,;r, 
OF THE PHILIPPINES 
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First Regular Session 
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SE~ 14 P:3 :441 
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Introduced by Senator Miriam Defensor SaBtiago 
AN ACT 
REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF ACT NO. 3815, ALSO KNOWN AS 
THE REVISED PENAL CODE, ON DEATH OR PHYSICAL INJURIES 
INFLICTED UNDER EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
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SECTION L Article 247 of Act No, 3815, also lmown as the Revised Penal Code is 
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hereby repealed: 
[Art. 247. Death or physical injuries inflicted under exceptional 
circumstances. -
Any legally married person who having surprised his 
spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, 
shall kill any of them or both of them in the act or immediately 
thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall 
suffer the penalty of destierro. 
If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall 
be exempt from punishment. 
These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to parents 
with respect to their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their 
seducer, while the daughters are living with their parents. 
Any person who shall promote or facilitate the prosittution of his wife or 
daughter, or hsall otherwise have consented to the infidelity 'Of the other 
spouse shall not be entitled to the benefits of this article, 1 
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SECTION 2. 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 3. 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 is inconsistent 
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with the provision ofthis Act is hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly. 
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SECTION 4. 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, 
lacs 
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