Article 168Act No. 3815, Sec./Art. 168

Illegal possession and use of false treasury or bank notes and bank notes and other instruments of credit.-Unless the act be one of those coming under the provisions of any of the preceding articles, any person who shall knowingly use or have in his possession, with intent to use any of the false or falsified instruments referred to in this section, shall suffer the penalty next lower in degree than that prescribed in said articles.

REVISED PENAL CODE TEXT AND SPECIAL PENAL LAWS

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 tills 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repealed or modified accordingly.

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.

RA No 10353 | Anti-Enforced or Involuntary

Disappearance Act of 2012

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10353

AN ACT 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 2012″.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. –The State values the

dignity

of

every human person 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 all people to human dignity,

the prohibition against secret detention places, solitary

confinement, incommunicado, or other similar forms of

detention, the provision for penal and civil sanctions for

such violations, and compensation and rehabilitation for

the victims and their families, particularly with respect to

the use of torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation or

any other means which vitiate the free will of persons

abducted, arrested, detained, disappeared or otherwise

removed from the effective protection of the law.

Furthermore, the State adheres to the principles and

standards on the absolute condemnation of human

rights violations set by the 1987 Philippine Constitution

and various international instruments such as, but not

limited

to,

the

International

Covenant

on

Civil

and

Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Convention Against

Torture

and

Other

Cruel,

Inhuman

or

Degrading

Treatment or Punishment (CAT), to which the Philippines

is a State party.

Section 3. Definitions. –For purposes of this Act, the

following terms shall be defined as follows:

(a) Agents of the State refer to persons who, by direct

provision of the law, popular election or appointment by

competent authority, shall take part in the performance

of public functions in the government, or shall perform in

the government or in any of its branches public duties as

an employee, agent or subordinate official, of any rank or

class.

(b) Enforced or involuntary disappearance refers to the

arrest,

detention,

abduction

or

any

other

form

of

deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the State or

by

persons

or

groups

of

persons

acting

with

the

authorization,

support

or acquiescence of the State,

followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of

liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of

the

disappeared

person,

which

places

such

person

outside the protection of the law.

(c) O rder of Battle refers to a document 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

which

it

considers

as

legitimate

targets

as

combatants that it could deal with, through the use of

means allowed by domestic and international law.

(d) Victim refers to the disappeared person and any

individual who has suffered harm as a direct result of an

enforced or involuntary disappearance as defined in letter

(b) of this Section.

Section 4. Nonderogability of the Right Against Enforced

or

Involuntary

Disappearance.

–The

right

against

enforced

or

involuntary

disappearance

and

the

fundamental safeguards for its prevention shall not be

suspended under any circumstance including political

instability, threat of war, state of war or other public

emergencies.

Section 5. "Order of Battle" or Any Order of Similar

Nature, Not Legal Ground, for Enforced or Involuntary

Disappearance. – An "Order of Battle" or any order of

similar nature, official or otherwise, 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 or exempting circumstance. Any

person receiving such an order shall have the right to

disobey it.

Section 6. Right of Access to Communication. – It shall be

the absolute right of any person deprived of liberty to

have immediate access to any form of communication

available in order for him or her to inform his or her family,

relative, friend, lawyer or any human rights organization

on his or her whereabouts and condition.

Section

7.

Duty

to

Report

Victims

of

Enforced

or

Involuntary Disappearance. – Any person, not being a

principal,

accomplice

or

accessory,

who

has

an

information

of

a

case

of

enforced

or

involuntary

disappearance or who shall learn of such information or

that a person is a victim of enforced or involuntary

disappearance, shall immediately report in writing the

circumstances and whereabouts of the victim to any

office, detachment or division of the Department of the

Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of

National Defense (DND), the Philippine National Police

(PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the

National

Bureau

of

Investigation

(NBI),

the

City

or

Provincial Prosecutor, the Commission on Human Rights

(CHR) or any human rights organization and, if known,

the victim’s family, relative, or lawyer.

Section 8. Duty to Certify in Writing on the Results of

Inquiry

into

a

Reported

Disappeared

Person’s

Whereabouts. –In case a family member, relative, lawyer,

representative

of

a

human

rights organization or a

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, the 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

whereabouts

of

such

disappeared person, stating, among others, in clear and

unequivocal manner the date and time of inquiry, details

of the inquiry and the response to the inquiry.

Section

9.

Duty

of

Inquest/Investigating

Public

Prosecutor or any Judicial or Quasi-Judicial Official or

Employee.

–Any

inquest

or

investigating

public

prosecutor, or any judicial or quasi-judicial official or

employee

who

learns

that the person delivered for

inquest or preliminary investigation or for any other

judicial process is a victim of enforced or involuntary

disappearance

shall

have

the

duty

to

immediately

© Compiled By RGL

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