NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session
of tljr €^r';rtnrp
•22 NOV 21 PI :10
SENATE 
s. No. 1520
RI-CtIVED
Introduced by SENATOR RAMON BONG REVILLA, JR.
AN ACT
REQUIRING AND REGULATING THE USE OF WEARABLE BODY CAMERAS 
AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN THE 
COURSE OF CONDUCTING A SEARCH OR MAKING AN ARREST, PROVIDING 
FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Article III, Section 1 of 1987 Constitution provides that The Bill of Rights 
categorically provides that, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property 
without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the 
laws." It also provides that "the right of the people to be secured in their persons, 
houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever 
nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable".
This measure will require law enforcers to use wearable body cameras and 
audio-video record events while in the course of conducting a search or making an 
arrest. This is a response to a number of alarming reports of abuses committed by 
few law enforcers; hence, institutionalizing safeguards to protect the citizens and 
facilitating means to address the culture of impunity within their ranks. By recording 
law enforcers-public encounters, both sectors are provided with recourse in times of 
dispute. At the core of the measure is improving the criminal justice system in the 
country.
In hope of strengthening the transparency mechanism in law enforcement 
operations, the immediate approval of the measure is hereby sought.
RAMON BONG REVILLA, JR.


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
)
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
)
First Regular Session 
)
SENATE
S. No. 1520
'I
of tl)f
*22 NOV 21 PI :10
RECEIVED [fV:
Introduced by SENATOR RAMON BONG REVILLA, JR.
AN ACT
REQUIRING AND REGULATING THE USE OF WEARABLE BODY CAMERAS 
AND DASHBOARD CAMERAS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS IN THE 
COURSE OF CONDUCTING A SEARCH OR MAKING AN ARREST, PROVIDING 
FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
1 
Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Body Camera and
2 
Dashboard Camera for Law Enforcement Officers Act of 2022".
3 
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to promote
4 
accountability and transparency in the conduct of police operations. This emanates
5 
from constitutional mandates that "[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
6 
property without due process of law" and that "the right of the people to be secure in
7 
their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures
8 
of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable". Towards this end, all law
9 
enforcement officers with the authority to conduct searches and make arrests shall be
10 
required to use body and dashboard cameras to record events that occur while in the
11 
course of conducting a search or making an arrest.
12 
Sec 3. Definitions. - The following phrases, when used in this Act, shall have
13 
the meanings given to them in this section, unless the context clearly indicates
14 
otherwise:
15 
a. Dashboard Camera. - An event-recording device issued to a law enforcement
16 
officer by the agency, attached to the interior windscreen or to the top of the


1 
dashboard of a vehicle that continuously records the view through a vehicle's
2 
windscreen;
3 
b. Law Enforcement Officer. - Any government employee, whether permanent or
4 
temporary, authorized by law to conduct searches and make arrests, including,
5 
but not limited to, officers of the Philippine National Police (PNP), National
6 
Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
7 
(PDEA).
8 
c. Subject of the video footage. - Any identifiable law enforcement officer or any
9 
identifiable suspect, victim, detainee, injured party, or other similarly situated
10 
person who appears on the body camera recording, and shall not include people
11 
who only incidentally appear on the recording.
12 
d. Use of Force. - Any action by a law enforcement officer that (i) results in death,
13 
injury, complaint of injury, or complaint of pain that persists beyond the use of
14 
a physical control hold, or (ii) involves the use of a weapon against a member
15 
of the public, or (iii) involves any intentional pointing of a firearm at a member
16 
of the public.
17 
e. Video footage. - Any image or audio recorded by a wearable body camera or a
18 
dashboard camera contemplated under this Act.
19 
f. Wearable body camera. - A portable event recording device issued to a law
20 
enforcement officer by their agency to be worn on their body and which records
21 
both audio and visual events occurring during an encounter with a member of
22 
the public while performing their duties as a law enforcement officer;
23 
g. Mandatory Use of Wearable Body Cameras. - All law enforcement officers with
24 
the authority to conduct searches and make arrests shall be required to wear
25 
a body camera and record the events that occur while in the course of
26 
conducting a search or making an arrest. Such body cameras shall be worn in
27 
a location and manner that maximizes the camera's ability to capture video
28 
footage of the law enforcement officer's activities. Both the video and audio
29 
recording functions of the body camera shali be activated whenever a law
30 
enforcement officer is responding to a call for service, or at the initiation of any
31 
other law enforcement encounter between a law enforcement officer and a
32 
member of the public, except that when an immediate threat to the officer's


1 
life or safety makes activating the camera impossible or dangerous, the officer
2 
shall activate the camera at the first reasonabie opportunity to do so. The body
3 
camera shall not be deactivated untii the encounter has fuliy concluded and the
4 
law enforcement officer leaves the scene. Body cameras shall not be used
5 
surreptitiously by a law enforcement officer who is wearing a body camera and
6 
shall, as far as practicable, notify the subject of the recording that they are
7 
being recorded by a body camera at the commencement of the encounter.
8 
Sec. 5. Minimum Core Standards of Wearabie Body Cameras. - All
9 
wearable body cameras to be utilized in compliance with this Act shall meet the
10 
following minimum core standards:
11 
a. Picture Quality/Resolution - the resolution should be at least 640 x 480 pixels.
12 
b. Frame Rate - the frame rate should be at least 25 frames per second.
13 
c. Battery Runtime - the camera should be equipped with a battery that permits
14 
the device to record continuously for at least 3 hours. All officers should also
15 
be equipped with a spare battery and/or a means of recharging the camera
16 
while on duty.
17 
d. Camera Focal Width - the camera must employ a wide point of view.
18 
e. Memory Specifications - at the lowest quality setting, the camera must permit
19 
at least 3 hours of recording.
20 
f. Night video quality - the camera must be able to capture decent video during
21 
nighttime.
22 
Sec. 6. Prohibited Uses of wearabie body cameras. - No law enforcement officer
23 
shall use wearable body cameras to record activity that is unrelated to a response to
24 
a call for service or a law enforcement or investigative encounter between a law
25 
enforcement officer and a member of the public.
26 
Sec. 7. Mandatory Use of dashboard cameras on vehicies. - All law enforcement
27 
agencies authorized by law to conduct searches and make arrests shall be required to
28 
install dashboard cameras to be used to record the events that occur while in the
29 
course of conducting a search or making an arrest. Such dashboard cameras shall be


1 
installed in a location and manner that maximizes the camera's ability to capture video
2 
footage of the law enforcement officer's activities.
3 
Sec. 8. Minimum core standards of dashboard cameras. - All dashboard
4 
cameras utilized in compliance with this Act shall meet the following minimum core
5 
standards:
ea. Picture Quality/Resolution - the resolution should be at least 640 x 480 pixels.
7b. Frame Rate - the frame rate should be at least 25 frames per second.
8c. Runtime - the camera should be able to record continuously for the entire duration 
9 
of a law enforcement operation.
lod. 
Camera Focal Width - the camera must employ a wide point of view.
lie. Memory Specifications - at the lowest quality setting, the camera must permit at
12 
least eight (8) hours of recording.
I3f. Night video quality - the camera must be able to capture decent video during
14 
nighttime.
15 
Sec. 9. Retention of video footage. - All video footages taken using a wearable body
16 
camera or a dashboard camera as required under this Act shall be retained by the law
17 
enforcement agency that employs the law enforcement officer whose wearable body
18 
camera captured the footage, or an authorized agent thereof, for one (1) year from
19 
the date it was recorded: Provided, That a video footage shall be automatically
20 
retained for no less than three (3) years if the video footage captures an interaction
21 
or event involving: any use of force, or an encounter about which a complaint has
22 
been registered by a subject of the video footage.
23 
Sec. 10. Right to inspect and possess a copy of video footage. - During the one
24 
(1) year retention period, the following persons shall have the right to inspect and/or
25 
possess a copy of the body camera footage:
26 
a. Any person who is a subject of body camera video footage, or their legal
27 
counsel;
28 
b. A parent or legal guardian of a minor subject of body camera video footage, or
29 
their legal counsel;


1 
c. The spouse, next of kin or legally authorized designee of a deceased subject of
2 
body camera video footage, or their legal counsel;
3 
d. A law enforcement officer whose body camera recorded the video footage, or
4 
their legal counsel;
5 
e. The superior officer of a law enforcement officer whose body camera recorded
6 
the video footage: Provided, That a law enforcement agency may establish
7 
reasonable fees relating to the costs incurred to disclose audio or video
8 
recordings. The fees shall be paid by the requesting party at the time of
9 
disclosure of the audio or video recording: Provided further. That a body
10 
camera video footage may not be withheld from the public on the basis that it
11 
is an investigatory record or was compiled for law enforcement purposes, where
12 
any person under investigation or whose conduct is under review, is a police
13 
officer or other law enforcement employee, and the video footage relates to
14 
that person's on-the-job conduct.
15 
Sec. 11. Use of Redaction Technology. - Whenever doing so is necessary to
16 
protect personal privacy, the right to a fair trial, the identity of a confidential source
17 
or crime victim, or the life or physical safety of any person appearing in video footage,
18 
redaction technology may be used to obscure the face and other personally identifying
19 
characteristics of that person, including the tone of the person's voice: Provided, the
20 
redaction does not interfere with a viewer's ability to fully, completely, and accurately
21 
comprehend the events captured on the video footage. Provided, That when redaction
22 
is performed on video footage pursuant to this Section, an unedited, original version
23 
of the video footage shall be retained: Provided further. That no other editing or
24 
alteration of video footage, including a reduction of the video footage's resolution,
25 
shall be permitted under this Act.
26 
Sec. 12. Prohibition on Third Parties Maintaining Footages. - Where a law
27 
enforcement agency authorizes a third-party to act as its agent in maintaining body
28 
camera footage, the agent shall not be permitted to independently access, view, or
29 
alter any video footage, except to delete videos as required by law or agency retention
30 
policies.


1 
Sec. 13. Disciplinary Action; Disputable Presumption. - Should any law
2 
enforcement office or agent fail to adhere to the recording or retention requirements
3 
contained in this Act, intentionally interfere with a body camera's or a dashboard
4 
camera's ability to accurately capture video footage, or otherwise manipulate the video
5 
footage captured by a body camera during or after its operation shall be subject to
6 
appropriate disciplinary action. A disputable presumption shall be adopted in favor of
7 
plaintiffs suing the government, a law enforcement agency and/or law enforcement
8 
officers for police misconduct when the evidence supporting their claim was destroyed
9 
or not captured: Provided, That the disciplinary action requirement and rebuttable
10 
presumptions under this Section may be overcome by contrary evidence or proof of
11 
exigent circumstances that made compliance with Sections 4 and 7 of this Act
12 
impossible.
13 
Sec. 14. Prohibited Use as Evidence. - Any body camera's or dashboard
14 
camera's video footage recorded in contravention of this Act or any other applicable
15 
law may not be offered as evidence by any government agency, office, or any other
16 
subdivision thereof, in any criminal or civil action or proceeding against any member
17 
of the public.
18 
Sec. 15. Appropriation. - The initial amount necessary for the implementation
19 
of this Act shall be charged against the current fiscal year's appropriations of the law
20 
enforcement agency involved, such as, but not limited to, the PNP, NBI and PDEA.
21 
Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the continued implementation of this
22 
Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
23 
Sec. 16. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). - Within sixty (60) days
24 
from the implementation of this Act, the Department of Interior and Local Government
25 
(DILG), National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), PNP, NBI and PDEA shall
26 
promulgate IRR of this Act.
27 
Such IRR shall include imposing administrative disciplinary measures for: (a)
28 
Failure to wear the body camera while on duty; (b) Failure to keep the wearable body
29 
camera on during an interaction with a member of the public, as required under this
30 
Act.


1 
Sec. 17. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act or the application of
2 
such provision is declared invalidOR unconstitutional, the provisions not affected
3 
thereby shall remain in full force and effect.
4 
Sec 18. Repealing Clause. - Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive
5 
order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule, or regulation contrary to or
6 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, or amended
7 
accordingly.
8 
Sec. 19. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
9 
complete publication either in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general 
10 circulation in the Philippines.
Approved,