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Republic of the Philippines AN
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RECEIVED =
Quezon City

DATIR 08 202i)
7

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Sccond Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 8923

Introduced by BAYAN MUNA
Reps. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
FERDINAND R. GAITE and EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT

AN ACT REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF ACT 3815,
AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
THE REVISED PENAL CODE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Art. 247 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 desterro [being prohibited from entering within a radius
of at least 25 kilometers of a designated place].

If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be exempt
from punishment.

These rules shall be applicable, under che 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. (Art. 247 Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, emphasis
supplied)

Itis incomprehensible why the above law which essentially allows parents to kill their daughters and
the offended spouse to kill the offending spouse remains in our criminal code. Instead of
imprisonment, the killer is merely penalized with destiero or prohibited from entering a place
designated by the court, surely a “non-penalty” considering the seriousness of the crime. Despite
the fact that the imposition of the death penalty has been abolished, there exists in the Philippines a
law which practically penalizes with death spouses and daughters for committing the act of sexual
intercourse.

‘Art. 247 of the Revised Penal Code is a product of feudal mentality deeply ingrained in our society
for more than a century. The first question is why shall we allow a parent to kill a daughter for
having sex with another? This is more than medieval!

‘The fact that the law merely focuses on the daughter and not the son only shows the discriminatory
and feudal frame of mind of the authors of this obscurantist law. Worse, the law even vaguely
provides that it applies not only during sexual intercourse but also “immediately after” sexual



intercourse, which practically allows for the killing even if it is no longer sure that a sexual act has
indeed been committed.

While adultery and concubinage is punished with imprisonment under our criminal laws, Art. 247
transforms the same act into a criminal offense punishable by death merely because the sexual act
was scen by the parcat or the spouse. Some may argue that the passion, obfuscation and the insult
suffered by the parent or the spouse [provided the spouse is “legally married” to the person he or
she will killl justifies the exemption from penalty. However, insult or passion must never be a
license to kill.

Art. 247 is in reality a de facto State-sponsored death penalty against an unfaithful or the disobedient
and therefore inconsistent with the statute suspending the death sentence. Worse it is
discriminatory, not only against female daughters, but also against non-marital relationships when
they too are protected under our laws. But what makes it unacceptable is because it perpetuates the
use of State power through criminal laws to define and re-define relationships, where the State
‘engages in legal discourse to control how much love is available for whom and what reactions there
should be when embroiled in such situations.

‘This Bill has no intention of encouraging acts of infidelity—not only because these acts remain
punishable under our criminal laws and are also subject of civil liabilities under our Civil Code but
also because it should not be relevant to the issue of patricide. Rather, the Bill seeks to discourage
murder, especially the murder of a daughter by a parent or the murder of a spouse by the other.

By repealing this law we are not only encouraging parents and spouses to resolve intra-family
problems in a non-violent manner but also eliminate this discriminatory and unjust law and gradually
move forward in efforts to reforming our criminal laws.

For this reason, the repeal of this medieval provision of the Revised Penal Code is highly sought for:
Art. 247 must be struck down.

Approved,
Rep. Biidd Ah on
Bayan Muna Party-List
Rep. IAND R. GAITE Rep. EUFEMIA C, CULLAMAT

Bayan Muna Partylist Bayan Muna Partylist


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Sccond Regular Session

HOUSE BILL Nob928

Introduced by BAYAN MUNA
Reps. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
FERDINAND R. GAITE and EUFEMIA C, CULLAMAT

AN ACT REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF ACT 3815,
AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS.
THE REVISED PENAL CODE

Be it enacted by the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1, Declaration of Principle. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees
full respect for buman rights. It shall ensure fundamental equality before the law of women and men
and no person shall be deprived of life, liberty and property without due process of law, nor shall
any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2. Article 247, Title Eight, Chapter One of Act 3815, as amended, otherwise known as
the Revised Penal Code which provides that “Art. 247 Death or Physical injuries inflced under
exceptional cireumstances—Anry legally married person who having surprised bis 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 be shall inflict upon
them physical injuries of any otber kind, be shall be exempt from punishment. These rules shall be applicable,
under the same circumstances, to parents with respect fo their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their
seducer, wile the daughters are living with their parents. Any person who shall promote or facilitate the
prostitution of bis wife or daughter, or shall otherwise have consented to the infidelity of the other spouse shall not
be entitled tothe benefits ofthis artic” is hereby repealed.

Section 3. Repealing clause—All laws, decrees, resolutions, orders or ordinances or parts thereof
inconsistent with this Act, are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 4. Effetvity. - This law shall take effect after fifteen days following its publication for two
consecutive weeks in the newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines.

Approved.