November 10, 2009

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9745

AN ACT PENALIZING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN AND

DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES
THEREFOR

SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Anti-Torture

Act of 2009".
SECTION 2. Statement of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of
the State:
(a) To value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full
respect for human rights;
(b) To ensure that the human rights of all persons, including suspects,
detainees and prisoners are respected at all times; and that no person placed
under investigation or held in custody of any person in authority or, agent of a
person in authority shall be subjected to physical, psychological or mental harm,
force, violence, threat or intimidation or any act that impairs his/her free will or
in any manner demeans or degrades human dignity;
(c) To ensure that secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado or
other similar forms of detention, where torture may be carried out with
impunity, are prohibited; and AECcTS

(d) To fully adhere to the principles and standards on the absolute

condemnation and prohibition of torture as provided for in the 1987 Philippine
Constitution; various international instruments to which the Philippines is a
State party such as, but not limited to, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); and all other relevant international
human rights instruments to which the Philippines is a signatory.
SECTION 3. Definitions. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms
shall mean:
(a) "Torture" refers to an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether
physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as
obtaining from him/her or a third person information or a confession; punishing
him/her for an act he/she or a third person has committed or is suspected of
having committed; or intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person; or for
any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is
inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a
person in authority or agent of a person in authority. It does not include pain or
suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
EcHIDT

(b) "Other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment"

refers to a deliberate and aggravated treatment or punishment not enumerated
under Section 4 of this Act, inflicted by a person in authority or agent of a person
in authority against a person under his/her custody, which attains a level of
severity causing suffering, gross humiliation or debasement to the latter.
(c) "Victim" refers to the person subjected to torture or other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as defined above and any
individual who has suffered harm as a result of any act(s) of torture, or other
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.
(d) "Order of Battle" refers to any document or determination made by
the military, police or any law enforcement agency of the government, listing the
names of persons and organizations that it perceives to be enemies of the State
and that it considers as legitimate targets as combatants that it could deal with,
through the use of means allowed by domestic and international law.
SECTION 4. Acts of Torture. — For purposes of this Act, torture shall
include, but not be limited to, the following:
(a) Physical torture is a form of treatment or punishment inflicted by a
person in authority or agent of a person in authority upon another in his/her
custody that causes severe pain, exhaustion, disability or dysfunction of one or
more parts of the body, such as: DHETIS

(1) Systematic beating, headbanging, punching, kicking, striking with

truncheon or rifle butt or other similar objects, and jumping on the
stomach;
(2) Food deprivation or forcible feeding with spoiled food, animal or
human excreta and other stuff or substances not normally eaten;
(3) Electric shock;
(4) Cigarette burning; burning by electrically heated rods, hot oil, acid;
by the rubbing of pepper or other chemical substances on mucous
membranes, or acids or spices directly on the wound(s);
(5) The submersion of the head in water or water polluted with
excrement, urine, vomit and/or blood until the brink of suffocation;
(6) Being tied or forced to assume fixed and stressful bodily position;
(7) Rape and sexual abuse, including the insertion of foreign objects
into the sex organ or rectum, or electrical torture of the genitals; TAECaD

(8) Mutilation or amputation of the essential parts of the body such as

the genitalia, ear, tongue, etc.;
(9) Dental torture or the forced extraction of the teeth;
(10) Pulling out of fingernails;
(11) Harmful exposure to the elements such as sunlight and extreme
 cold;
(12) The use of plastic bag and other materials placed over the head to
the point of asphyxiation;
(13) The use of psychoactive drugs to change the perception, memory,
alertness or will of a person, such as:
(i) The administration of drugs to induce confession and/or reduce
mental competency; or
(ii) The use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain symptoms
of a disease; and
(14) Other analogous acts of physical torture; and
(b) "Mental/Psychological Torture" refers to acts committed by a person
in authority or agent of a person in authority which are calculated to affect or
confuse the mind and/or undermine a person's dignity and morale, such as: aTEADI

(1) Blindfolding;
(2) Threatening a person(s) or his/her relative(s) with bodily harm,
execution or other wrongful acts;
(3) Confinement in solitary cells or secret detention places;
(4) Prolonged interrogation;
(5) Preparing a prisoner for a "show trial", public display or public
humiliation of a detainee or prisoner;
(6) Causing unscheduled transfer of a person deprived of liberty from
one place to another, creating the belief that he/she shall be
summarily executed;
(7) Maltreating a member/s of a person's family;
(8) Causing the torture sessions to be witnessed by the person's family,
relatives or any third party;
(9) Denial of sleep/rest;
(10) Shame infliction such as stripping the person naked, parading
him/her in public places, shaving the victim's head or putting marks
on his/her body against his/her will;
(11) Deliberately prohibiting the victim to communicate with any
member of his/her family; and
(12) Other analogous acts of mental/psychological torture.
SECTION 5. Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or
Punishment. — Other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
refers to a deliberate and aggravated treatment or punishment not enumerated
under Section 4 of this Act, inflicted by a person in authority or agent of a person
in authority against another person in custody, which attains a level of severity
sufficient to cause suffering, gross humiliation or debasement to the latter. The
assessment of the level of severity shall depend on all the circumstances of the
case, including the duration of the treatment or punishment, its physical and
mental effects and, in some cases, the sex, religion, age and state of health of the
victim. DcICEa

SECTION 6. Freedom from Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and

Degrading Treatment or Punishment, an Absolute Right. — Torture and other
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as criminal acts shall
apply to all circumstances. A state of war or a threat of war, internal political
instability, or any other public emergency, or a document or any determination
comprising an "order of battle" shall not and can never be invoked as a
justification for torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment.
SECTION 7. Prohibited Detention. — Secret detention places, solitary
confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms of detention, where torture
may be carried out with impunity, are hereby prohibited.
In which case, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) and other law enforcement agencies concerned shall make an
updated list of all detention centers and facilities under their respective
jurisdictions with the corresponding data on the prisoners or detainees
incarcerated or detained therein such as, among others, names, date of arrest
and incarceration, and the crime or offense committed. This list shall be made
available to the public at all times, with a copy of the complete list available at
the respective national headquarters of the PNP and AFP. A copy of the complete
list shall likewise be submitted by the PNP, AFP and all other law enforcement
agencies to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), such list to be periodically
updated, by the same agencies, within the first five (5) days of every month at
the minimum. Every regional office of the PNP, AFP and other law enforcement
agencies shall also maintain a similar list for all detainees and detention facilities
within their respective areas, and shall make the same available to the public at
all times at their respective regional headquarters, and submit a copy, updated in
the same manner provided above, to the respective regional offices of the CHR.
EICSDT

SECTION 8. Applicability of the Exclusionary Rule; Exception. — Any

confession, admission or statement obtained as a result of torture shall be
inadmissible in evidence in any proceedings, except if the same is used as
evidence against a person or persons accused of committing torture.
SECTION 9. Institutional Protection of Torture Victims and Other
Persons Involved. — A victim of torture shall have the following rights in the
institution of a criminal complaint for torture:
(a) To have a prompt and an impartial investigation by the CHR and by
agencies of government concerned such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the
Public Attorney's Office (PAO), the PNP, the National Bureau of Investigation
(NBI) and the AFP. A prompt investigation shall mean a maximum period of sixty
(60) working days from the time a complaint for torture is filed within which an
investigation report and/or resolution shall be completed and made available. An
appeal whenever available shall be resolved within the same period prescribed
herein;
 (b) To have sufficient government protection against all forms of
harassment, threat and/or intimidation as a consequence of the filing of said
complaint or the presentation of evidence therefor. In which case, the State
through its appropriate agencies shall afford security in order to ensure his/her
safety and all other persons involved in the investigation and prosecution such
as, but not limited to, his/her lawyer, witnesses and relatives; and
(c) To be accorded sufficient protection in the manner by which he/she
testifies and presents evidence in any fora in order to avoid further trauma.
STcEIC

SECTION 10. Disposition of Writs of Habeas Corpus, Amparo and Habeas

Data Proceedings and Compliance with a Judicial Order. — A writ of habeas
corpus or writ of amparo or writ of habeas data proceeding, if any, filed on behalf
of the victim of torture or other cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment or
punishment shall be disposed of expeditiously and any order of release by virtue
thereof, or other appropriate order of a court relative thereto, shall be executed
or complied with immediately.
SECTION 11. Assistance in Filing a Complaint. — The CHR and the PAO
shall render legal assistance in the investigation and monitoring and/or filing of
the complaint for a person who suffers torture and other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment, or for any interested party thereto.
The victim or interested party may also seek legal assistance from the
Barangay Human Rights Action Center (BHRAC) nearest him/her as well as from
human rights nongovernment organizations (NGOs).
SECTION 12. Right to Physical, Medical and Psychological Examination.
— Before and after interrogation, every person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation shall have the right to be informed of his/her right to
demand physical examination by an independent and competent doctor of
his/her own choice. If such person cannot afford the services of his/her own
doctor, he/she shall be provided by the State with a competent and independent
doctor to conduct physical examination. The State shall endeavor to provide the
victim with psychological evaluation if available under the circumstances. If the
person arrested is a female, she shall be attended to preferably by a female
doctor. Furthermore, any person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation, including his/her immediate family, shall have the right to
immediate access to proper and adequate medical treatment. AcDaEH

The physical examination and/or psychological evaluation of the victim

shall be contained in a medical report, duly signed by the attending physician,
which shall include in detail his/her medical history and findings, and which shall
be attached to the custodial investigation report. Such report shall be considered
a public document.
Following applicable protocol agreed upon by agencies tasked to conduct
physical, psychological and mental examinations, the medical reports shall,
among others, include:
(a) The name, age and address of the patient or victim;
 (b) The name and address of the nearest kin of the patient or victim;
(c) The name and address of the person who brought the patient or
victim for physical, psychological and mental examination, and/or medical
treatment;
(d) The nature and probable cause of the patient or victim's injury, pain
and disease and/or trauma; aAEIHC

(e) The approximate time and date when the injury, pain, disease
and/or trauma was/were sustained;
(f) The place where the injury, pain, disease and/or trauma was/were
sustained;
(g) The time, date and nature of treatment necessary; and
(h) The diagnosis, the prognosis and/or disposition of the patient.
Any person who does not wish to avail of the rights under this provision
may knowingly and voluntarily waive such rights in writing, executed in the
presence and assistance of his/her counsel.
SECTION 13. Who are Criminally Liable. — Any person who actually
participated or induced another in the commission of torture or other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated in the
execution of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment by previous or simultaneous acts shall be liable as principal.
Any superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior
government official who issued an order to any lower ranking personnel to
commit torture for whatever purpose shall be held equally liable as principals.
The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of the AFP or the
immediate senior public official of the PNP and other law enforcement agencies
shall be held liable as a principal to the crime of torture or other cruel or inhuman
and degrading treatment or punishment for any act or omission, or negligence
committed by him/her that shall have led, assisted, abetted or allowed, whether
directly or indirectly, the commission thereof by his/her subordinates. If he/she
has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known
that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment shall be committed, is being committed, or has been committed by
his/her subordinates or by others within his/her area of responsibility and, despite
such knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action either before, during
or immediately after its commission, when he/she has the authority to prevent
or investigate allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment but failed to prevent or investigate allegations of such
act, whether deliberately or due to negligence shall also be liable as principals.
caCSDT

Any public officer or employee shall be liable as an accessory if he/she has

knowledge that torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment is being committed and without having participated therein, either
as principal or accomplice, takes part subsequent to its commission in any of the
following manner:
 (a) By themselves profiting from or assisting the offender to profit from
the effects of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment;
(b) By concealing the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment or punishment and/or destroying the effects or instruments
thereof in order to prevent its discovery; or
(c) By harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of the principals
in the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment: Provided, That the accessory acts are done with the abuse of the
official's public functions.
SECTION 14. Penalties. — (a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be
imposed upon the perpetrators of the following acts:
(1) Torture resulting in the death of any person;
(2) Torture resulting in mutilation;
(3) Torture with rape;
(4) Torture with other forms of sexual abuse and, in consequence of
torture, the victim shall have become insane, imbecile, impotent,
blind or maimed for life; and HDcaAI

(5) Torture committed against children.

(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed on those who
commit any act of mental/psychological torture resulting in insanity, complete or
partial amnesia, fear of becoming insane or suicidal tendencies of the victim due
to guilt, worthlessness or shame.
(c) The penalty of prision correccional shall be imposed on those who
commit any act of torture resulting in psychological, mental and emotional harm
other than those described in paragraph (b) of this section.
(d) The penalty of prision mayor in its medium and maximum periods
shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture, the victim shall have lost the
power of speech or the power to hear or to smell; or shall have lost an eye, a
hand, a foot, an arm or a leg; or shall have lost the use of any such member; or
shall have become permanently incapacitated for labor. cADTSH

(e) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods
shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture, the victim shall have become
deformed or shall have lost any part of his/her body other than those aforecited,
or shall have lost the use thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor
for a period of more than ninety (90) days.
(f) The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period to prision
mayor in its minimum period shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture, the
victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor for more than thirty (30) days
but not more than ninety (90) days.
(g) The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium
period shall be imposed if, in consequence of torture, the victim shall have been
ill or incapacitated for labor for thirty (30) days or less.
(h) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed for acts constituting
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment as defined in Section 5 of
this Act.
(i) The penalty of prision correccional shall be imposed upon those who
establish, operate and maintain secret detention places and/or effect or cause to
effect solitary confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms of prohibited
detention as provided in Section 7 of this Act where torture may be carried out
with impunity. IDTSaC

(j) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed upon the responsible
officer/s or personnel of the AFP, the PNP and other law enforcement agencies for
failure to perform his/her duty to maintain, submit or make available to the
public an updated list of detention centers and facilities with the corresponding
data on the prisoners or detainees incarcerated or detained therein, pursuant to
Section 7 of this Act.
SECTION 15. Torture as a Separate and Independent Crime. — Torture
as a crime shall not absorb or shall not be absorbed by any other crime or felony
committed as a consequence, or as a means in the conduct or commission
thereof. In which case, torture shall be treated as a separate and independent
criminal act whose penalties shall be imposable without prejudice to any other
criminal liability provided for by domestic and international laws.

SECTION 16. Exclusion from the Coverage of Special Amnesty Law. —

In order not to depreciate the crime of torture, persons who have committed any
act of torture 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.
SECTION 17. Applicability of Refouler. — No person shall be expelled,
returned or extradited to another State where there are substantial grounds to
believe that such person shall be in danger of being subjected to torture. For the
purposes of determining whether such grounds exist, the Secretary of the
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the DOJ, in coordination
with the Chairperson of the CHR, shall take into account all relevant
considerations including, where applicable and not limited to, the existence in
the requesting State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations
of human rights.
SECTION 18. Compensation to Victims of Torture. — Any person who
has suffered torture shall have the right to claim for compensation as provided
for under Republic Act No. 7309: Provided, That in no case shall compensation be
any lower than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00). Victims of torture shall also
have the right to claim for compensation from such other financial relief
programs that may be made available to him/her under existing law and rules
and regulations. ITDHcA

SECTION 19. Formulation of a Rehabilitation Program. — Within one

(1) year from the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD), the DOJ and the Department of Health (DOH) and such
other concerned government agencies, and human rights organizations shall
formulate a comprehensive rehabilitation program for victims of torture and
their families. The DSWD, the DOJ and the DOH shall also call on human rights
nongovernment organizations duly recognized by the government to actively
participate in the formulation of such program that shall provide for the physical,
mental, social, psychological healing and development of victims of torture and
their families. Toward the attainment of restorative justice, a parallel
rehabilitation program for persons who have committed torture and other cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishment shall likewise be formulated by the same
agencies.
SECTION 20. Monitoring of Compliance with this Act. — An Oversight
Committee is hereby created to periodically oversee the implementation of this
Act. The Committee shall be headed by a Commissioner of the CHR, with the
following as members: the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and
Human Rights, the respective Chairpersons of the House of Representatives'
Committees on Justice and Human Rights, and the Minority Leaders of both
houses or their respective representatives in the minority.
SECTION 21. Education and Information Campaign. — The CHR, the
DOJ, the Department of National Defense (DND), the Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG) and such other concerned parties in both the public
and private sectors shall ensure that education and information regarding
prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or
punishment shall be fully included in the training of law enforcement personnel,
civil or military, medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may be
involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to
any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. The Department of Education
(DepED) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall also ensure the
integration of human rights education courses in all primary, secondary and
tertiary level academic institutions nationwide.
SECTION 22. Applicability of the Revised Penal Code. — The provisions
of the Revised Penal Code insofar as they are applicable shall be suppletory to
this Act. Moreover, if the commission of any crime punishable under Title Eight
(Crimes Against Persons) and Title Nine (Crimes Against Personal Liberty and
Security) of the Revised Penal Code is attended by any of the acts constituting
torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as
defined herein, the penalty to be imposed shall be in its maximum period. DcITHE

SECTION 23. Appropriations. — The amount of Five million pesos

(Php5,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated to the CHR for the initial
implementation of this Act. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the
continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General
Appropriations Act.
SECTION 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The DOJ and the
CHR, with the active participation of human rights nongovernmental
organizations, shall promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of this Act. They shall also ensure the full dissemination of such
rules and regulations to all officers and members of various law enforcement
agencies.
SECTION 25. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions not affected thereby
shall continue to be in full force and effect.
SECTION 26. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders or
rules and regulations contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act
are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. ASHaTc

SECTION 27. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.
Approved: November 10, 2009
Published in the Manila Times and Manila Standard Today on November 17,
2009.