FIFTEEONTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No. 1226 
Hl Jll l2 1"2:02 I 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that everyone 
has the right to life, liberty, and security of person. This declaration does not apply only 
in other parts of the world. It also applies here in the Philippines where the security of 
person is often violated by the entity assigned to protect it, the State. Especially as the 
Philippines is a signatory to the UN Charter, which encompasses the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights. 
The 1987 Constitution recognizes this whe,n it provides that the right to liberty 
may not be deprived without due process of law. Sadly, the Executive Department has 
been embroiled in controversy regarding the disappearance of persons, most notably, 
people who have been vocal in expressing their displeasure over the way the executive 
department runs its affairs. In an attempt to curb the said acts of the State, the Supreme 
Court has passed several rules of note, starting' with the writ of amparo, and most 
recently, the writ of habeas data. But the disappearances of the persons continued. 
This bill is earnestly sought to be passed so that the elements of the State, and 
even their representatives may be fully apprised that their acts are criminal and may 
eventually result in their sentence behind the cold bars of prison. 
VLLAR 
1 


FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
SENATE 
Senate Bill No12 2 6 
INTRODUCED BY HON. MANNY VILLAR 
AN ACT 
10 Jll 121'2:02 ' 
," ,. 
DEFINING AND PENALIZING ENFORCED OR INVOLUNTARY DISAPPEARANCE 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of .Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. -This Act shall ,be known as the "Anti-Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearance Act of 201 0." 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State values the dignity of every human 
being and guarantees full respect for human rights for which highest priority shall be 
given to the enactment of measures for the enhancement of the right of the people to 
human dignity, the prohibition against enforced or involuntary disappearance, the 
provision for penal and civil sanctions for violations thereof, and compensation and 
rehabilitation of the victims and their families, Further, no acts of torture, force, violence, 
threat or intimidation or any act which vitiates the free will shall be employed against the 
person abducted, arrested, detained, disappeared or otherwise removed from the 
effective protection of the law, 
SEC. 3. Definition of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. - For purposes 
of this Act, enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be deemed committed when a 
person is deprived of his/her liberty, in whatsoever form for political reason(s) by agents 
of the State or by private persons or group of persons acting with the authorization, 
support or acquiescence of the State, followed by an absence of information, or refusal 
to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty and information, or concealment of the fate or 
whereabouts of the disappeared person thus placing such person outside the protection 
of the law, 
In the event the prosecution fails to prove political motive, the deprivation of 
liberty of the victim who surfaces alive shall be .punishable as kidnapping under the 
Revised Penal Code, If the victim is subsequently found dead or hid her disappearance 
persists for over three (3) years, he/she is presumed killed by those responsible for 
his/her arrest or abduction, and the act of enforced or Involuntary disappearance in 
either case shall be punishable as murder. 
SEC. 4. Permanent Prohibition of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. -
The prohibition of enforced or involuntary disappearance and the fundamental 
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safeguards for its prevention shall not be suspended under any circumstances including 
political instability, threat of war, state of war or other public emergencies. 
SEC. 5. "Order of Battle" Not Legal Ground for Enforced or Involuntary 
Disappearance. - An "Order of Battle", official or otherwise, issued by the military, 
police or any law enforcement agency of the Government, shall not justify an enforced 
or involuntary disappearance and shall subject the perpetrators to the same 
corresponding penalties provided in this Act. 
SEC. 6. Right of Victim of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. - It shall 
be the absolute right of a victim of enforced or Involuntary disappearance to 
immediately inform his/her family, relative, lawyer(s) or a human rights organization by 
all means that are available and expeditious, by cellular phone, landline, courier, 
electronic mall, telegram, radio or other means, on his or her whereabouts and 
condition. 
SEC. 7. Duty of Person(s) Keeping, Arresting, or Detaining Victims of 
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance. - Any person(s) keeping, arresting or 
detaining a victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance or who shall learn or have 
information of such fact shall have the duty to immediately report in writing on the 
circumstances and whereabouts of such victim to the nearest office of the Philippine 
National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Department of the 
Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of National Defense (DND), the City 
or Provincial Public Prosecutor, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as well as the 
victim's family, relatives, lawyer(s) or to a human rights organization by the most 
expedient means. 
SEC. 8. Duty of Persons to Certify in Writing on the Results of Inquiry into a 
Possible Victim's Whereabouts. - In case a family member, relative, lawyer(s), human 
rights organization or member of the media inquires with a member or official of any 
police or military detention center, the PNP or any of Its agencies, the AFP or any of Its 
agencies, he NBI, or any other agency or instrumentality of the Government, as well as 
any hospital or morgue, public or private, on the presence or whereabouts of a reported 
victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance, such member or official shall 
immediately issue a certification in writing to the inquiring person or entity on the 
presence or absence and/or information on the wh~reabouts of such possible victim. 
SEC. 9. Duty of Inquest/Investigating Public Prosecutor or any Judicial or 
Quasi-judicial Employee or Official. - Any Inquest or Investigating Public Prosecutor 
or any judicial or quasi-judicial employee or official who learns of such disappearance 
and upon whom the victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance is delivered for 
inquest or preliminary investigation or for any other judicial process, shall have the duty 
to immediately disclose such circumstances and the victim's whereabouts to hisiher 
immediate family, relatives, or lawyers or to a human rights organization by the most 
expedient means. 
SEC. 10. Official Up-to-Date Register of all Persons Detained or Confined.-
All persons deprived of liberty shall be held solely, in officially recognized and controlled 
places of detention or confinement where an official up-to-date register of such persons 
shall be maintained. All information contained in the register shall be made available to 
the relatives, lawyers, judges, official bodies and to all persons who have legitimate 
interest in the information. 
SEC. 11. Visits of Inspection to All Places of Detention. -
Competent 
representatives of the Commission on Human Rights shall conduct regular, 
independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits of Inspection to all places of 
detention and confinement. 
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SEC. 12. Liability of Commanding Officer. - The immediate Commanding 
Officer or equivalent Senior Official shall be held liable for an enforced or involuntary 
disappearance. Any failure on his/her part, whether done with deliberate intent or 
negligence to avert an act of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be taken as 
evidence of conspiracy. 
SEC. 13. Penal Provisions. - (A) The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be 
imposed upon the following persons: 
(1) Those who directly committed the act of enforced or involuntary 
disappearance; 
(2) Those who directly forced, instigated, encouraged or induced others to 
commit the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance; 
(3) Those who cooperated in the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance by 
committing another act without which the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance 
would not have been carried out; 
(4) Those officials who allowed the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance 
when it is within their power to stop the commission of such act; 
(5) Those who cooperated in the execution of the act of enforced or involuntary 
disappearance by previous or simultaneous acts. 
(B) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed upon those who attempt 
to commit the offense of enforced or involuntary disappearance. 
(C) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall also be imposed upon the persons 
who, having knowledge of the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance, and without 
having participated therein, either as participants or accomplices, took part subsequent 
to its commission in any of the following manners: 
(1) By themselves profiting from or assisting the offender 10 profit from the effects 
of the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance; 
. 
(2) By concealing the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance, and/or 
destroying the effects or instruments thereof, in order to prevent its discovery; 
(3) By harboring, concealing, or assisting in the escape of the principal(s) in the 
act of enforced or involuntary disappearance, provided the accessory acts are done with 
the abuse of the official's public functions. 
(D) The penalty of prision coreccional shall be imposed against any person who 
defies, ignores, or unduly delays compliance with a habeas corpus or writ of amparo 
proceeding filed on behalf of the victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance or to 
immediately follow or comply with an order of release by virtue of such proceeding or 
other appropriate judicial order. 
, 
(E) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed against any person who 
violates the provisions of Sections 6,7, 8 and 9 of this Act. 
SEC. 14. Preventive Suspension. - The perpetrators of and other participants in 
the commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall be preventively 
suspended and prohibited from performing any official duties upon the filing of the 
information or complaint in the proper court until the promulgation of judgment. 
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SEC. 15. Civil Liability. - Enforced or involuntary disappearance shall render its 
perpetrators and the State authorities which organized, acquiesced in or tolerated such 
disappearance liable under civil law. 
' 
SEC. 16. Unlawful Order. - An order from a superior officer or a public authority 
causing the commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance is unlawful and 
cannot be invoked as a justifying circumstance. 
SEC. 17. Continuing Offense. - An act constituting enforced or involuntary 
disappearance shall be considered a continuing offense as long as the perpetrators 
continue to conceal the fate and the whereabouts of the persons who have disappeared 
and these facts remain unverified. 
SEC. 18. Exclusion from the Coverage: of a Statute of Limitation. - The 
prosecution of persons responsible for enforced or involuntary disappearance shall not 
prescribe unless the victim surfaces alive, in which case, the prescriptive period shall 
start to run from the date of his/her reappearance. 
SEC. 19. Exclusion from the Coverage of Special Amnesty Law. - Persons 
who have committed the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall not benefit 
from any special amnesty law or similar measures that will have the effect of exempting 
them from any criminal proceedings and sanctions. 
SEC. 20. State's Protection. - The Slate through Its appropriate agencies shall 
ensure the safety of all persons involved in the search, investigation and prosecution of 
enforced 
or 
involuntary 
disappearance 
including 
the 
victims, 
their families, 
complainants, witnesses, representatives of human rights organizations, media and 
legal counsel. They shall likewise be protected from any act of intimidation or reprisal as 
a result of the filing of charges. Any person committing such ill-treatment and/or acts of. 
intimidation or reprisal shall be punished under existing laws. 
SEC. 21. Compensation to and/or Rehabilitation of Victims of Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearance and/or Their Next~of-Kin. - The victims of enforced of 
involuntary disappearance who surfaced alive shall be entitled to monetary 
compensation, rehabilitation and restitution of honor and reputation. Such restitution of 
honor and reputation shall include immediate expunging or rectification of any 
derogatory record, information or public declaration/statement on his/her personal 
circumstances, status, person, or affiliation by the appropriate government or private 
agency or agencies concerned. 
The next-of-kin of a victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance may also 
claim for compensation as provided for under Republic Act 7309 and other relief 
programs of the Government. 
The package of indemnification for both the victims and the next-of-kin shall be 
without prejudice to other legal remedies that may he available to them. 
In order that the nearest of kin of victims of enforced or involuntary 
disappearance and the victims who surfaced alive maybe effectively reintegrated Into 
the mainstream of society and in the process of development, the State through the 
Commission on Human Rights shall provide them with appropriate medical care and 
rehabilitation free of charge. 
SEC. 22. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within thirty (30) days from 
the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Commission on Human 
Rights (CHR) and the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) shall 
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• 
• 
jointly promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act 
and shall ensure the full dissemination of the same to the public in consultation with 
other human rights organizations such as the Asian Federation Against Enforced or 
Involuntary Disappearance, KARAPATAN and other human rights organizations. 
SEC. 23. Monitoring of Compliance with this Act. - An Oversight Committee is 
hereby created to periodically oversee the implementation of this Act. The group shall 
be headed by a Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and with the 
following as members: an Undersecretary of the Department of Justice, Chairperson of 
the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, respective Chairpersons of the 
House of Representatives Committees on Justice and Civil and Political and Human 
Rights and the Secretary General of the Families of Victims of Involuntary 
Disappearance (FIND). 
SEC. 24. Suppletory Applications. -The provisions of the Revised Penal Code 
shall be suppletory to this Act. 
SEC. 
25. 
Appropriations. 
-
The 
funds 
necessary for the 
effective 
implementation of this Act shall be sourced from the contingent fund of the President for 
fiscal year in which this Act is passed and subsequently included in the budget of the 
Commission on Human Rights under the General Appropriations Act of the year 
following the passage of this Act. 
SEC. 26. Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Fund. - In addition to the 
funding sources provided for in the preceding section, two percent (2Yo) of the filing 
fees in civil cases and special proceedings before all courts, including the Court of 
Appeals and the Supreme Court, shall be collected to constitute an enforced or 
involuntary disappearance fund. 
SEC. 27. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid, 
the remainder thereof not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect. 
SEC. 28. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and 
regulations and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this 
Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. 
SEC. 29. Effectivity. - This Act shall ta.ke effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
Approved, 
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