Article 150Act No. 3815, Sec./Art. 150

Disobedience to summons issued by a legislative body or committee, and refusal to testify before same.-The penalty of arresto mayor or a fine ranging from 200 mittee, and refusal to to 1,000 pesos, or both such fine and imprisonment, shall be imposed upon any person who, having been duly summoned to attend as a witness before either House of the Legislature, or before any committee thereof, refuses, without legal excuse, to obey such summons, or being present before any such body or committee refuses to be sworn or placed under affirmation or to answer any legal inquiry or to produce any books, papers, documents, or records in his possession, when required by them to do so in the exercise of their functions.

REVISED PENAL CODE TEXT AND SPECIAL PENAL LAWS

intermarriages. It shall develop a system for accreditation

of

NGOs

that

may

be

mobilized

for

purposes

of

conducting

pre-departure

counseling

services

for

Filipinos in intermarriages. As such, it shall ensure that

the counselors contemplated under this Act shall have

the minimum qualifications and training of guidance

counselors as provided for by law.

It shall likewise assist in the conduct of information

campaigns against trafficking in coordination with local

government units, the Philippine Information Agency,

and NGOs.

(k) Local government units (LGUs) – shall monitor and

document cases of trafficking in persons in their areas of

jurisdiction,

effect

the

cancellation

of

licenses

of

establishments which violate the provisions of this Act

and ensure effective prosecution of such cases. They shall

also

undertake

an

information

campaign

against

trafficking in persons through the establishment of the

Migrants Advisory and Information Network (MAIN) desks

in municipalities or provinces in coordination with the

DILG, Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Commission

on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), NGOs and other concerned

agencies.

They

shall

encourage

and

support

community-based

initiatives

which

address

the

trafficking in persons.

In implementing this Act, the agencies concerned may

seek

and

enlist

the

assistance

of

NGOs,

people’s

organizations

(POs),

civic

organizations

and

other

volunteer groups. (as amended)

Section 16-A. Anti-Trafficking in Persons Database. – An

anti-trafficking

in

persons

central database shall be

established

by

the

Inter-Agency

Council

Against

Trafficking created under Section 20 of this Act. The

Council shall submit a report to the President of the

Philippines and to Congress, on or before January 15 of

every year, with respect to the preceding year’s programs

and data on trafficking-related cases.

All

government

agencies

tasked

under

the

law

to

undertake programs and render assistance to address

trafficking

in

persons

shall

develop

their

respective

monitoring and data collection systems, and databases,

for purposes of ensuring efficient collection and storage

of data on cases of trafficking in persons handled by their

respective offices. Such data shall be submitted to the

Council for integration in a central database system.

For this purpose, the Council is hereby tasked to ensure

the harmonization and standardization of databases,

including

minimum

data

requirements,

definitions,

reporting formats, data collection systems, and data

verification systems. Such databases shall have, at the

minimum, the following information:

(a) The number of cases of trafficking in persons, sorted

according to status of cases, including the number of

cases

being

investigated,

submitted

for prosecution,

dropped, and filed and/or pending before the courts and

the number of convictions and acquittals;

(b) The profile/information on each case;

(c)

The number of victims of trafficking in persons

referred to the agency by destination countries/areas and

by area of origin; and

(d) Disaggregated data on trafficking victims and the

accused/defendants. (n)

Section

17.

Legal

Protection

to

Trafficked

Persons.

-Trafficked persons shall be recognized as victims of the

act or acts of trafficking and as such, shall not be

penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result

of, or as an incident or in relation to, being trafficked

based on the acts of trafficking enumerated in this Act or

in obedience to the order made by the trafficker in

relation thereto. In this regard, the consent of a trafficked

person to the intended exploitation set forth in this Act

shall be irrelevant.

Victims of trafficking for purposes of prostitution as

defined under Section 4 of this Act are not covered by

Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code and as such, shall

not be prosecuted, fined, or otherwise penalized under

the said law. (as amended)

Section 17-A. Temporary Custody of Trafficked Victims. –

The rescue of victims should be done as much as possible

with the assistance of the DSWD or an accredited NGO

that services trafficked victims. A law enforcement officer,

on a reasonable suspicion that a person is a victim of any

offense

defined under this Act including attempted

trafficking, shall immediately place that person in the

temporary

custody

of

the

local

social

welfare

and

development office, or any accredited or licensed shelter

institution devoted to protecting trafficked persons after

the rescue. (n)

Section

17-B.

Irrelevance

of

Past

Sexual

Behavior,

Opinion Thereof or Reputation of Victims and of Consent

of Victims in Cases of Deception, Coercion and Other

Prohibited Means. – The past sexual behavior or the

sexual predisposition of a trafficked person shall be

considered inadmissible in evidence for the purpose of

proving

consent

of

the victim to engage in sexual

behavior,

or

to

prove

the

predisposition,

sexual

or

otherwise,

of

a

trafficked

person.

Furthermore,

the

consent

of

a

victim

of

trafficking

to

the

intended

exploitation shall be irrelevant where any of the means

set forth in Section 3(a) of this Act has been used. (n)

Section 17-C. Immunity from Suit, Prohibited Acts and

Injunctive Remedies. – No action or suit shall be brought,

instituted or maintained in any court or tribunal or before

any other authority against any: (a) law enforcement

officer;

(b)

social

worker;

or

(c)

person

acting

in

compliance with a lawful order from any of the above, for

lawful

acts

done

or

statements

made

during

an

authorized

rescue

operation,

recovery

or

rehabilitation/intervention,

or

an

investigation

or

prosecution of an anti-trafficking case: Provided, That

such acts shall have been made in good faith.

The prosecution of retaliatory suits against victims of

trafficking

shall

be

held

in abeyance pending final

resolution

and

decision

of

criminal

complaint

for

trafficking.

It shall be prohibited for the DFA, the DOLE, and the

POEA officials, law enforcement officers, prosecutors and

judges to urge complainants to abandon their criminal,

civil and administrative complaints for trafficking.

The remedies of injunction and attachment of properties

of the traffickers, illegal recruiters and persons involved in

trafficking may be issued motu proprio by judges. (n)

Section 18. Preferential Entitlement Under the Witness

Protection Program . - Any provision of Republic Act No.

6981 to the contrary notwithstanding, any trafficked

person

shall

be

entitled

to

the

witness

protection

program provided therein.

Section

19.

Trafficked

Persons

Who

are

Foreign

Nationals . - Subject to the guidelines issued by the

Council, trafficked persons in the Philippines who are

nationals of a foreign country shall also be entitled to

appropriate protection, assistance and services available

to trafficked persons under this Act: Provided , That they

shall be permitted continued presence in the Philippines

for

a

length

of

time

prescribed by the Council as

necessary to effect the prosecution of offenders.

Section 20. Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking . -

There is hereby established an Inter-Agency Council

Against Trafficking, to be composed of the Secretary of

the

Department

of

Justice

as

Chairperson and the

Secretary

of

the

Department

of Social Welfare and

Development

as

Co-Chairperson

and shall have the

following as members:

(a) Secretary, Department of Foreign Affairs;

(b) Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment;

(c)

Secretary,

Department

of

the Interior and Local

Government;

© Compiled By RGL

150 of 201