Article 177Act No. 3815, Sec./Art. 177

Usurpation of official functions.-Any person who, under pretense of official position, shall perform any act pertaining to any person in authority or public officer, without being lawfully entitled to do so, shall suffer the penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods,

REVISED PENAL CODE TEXT AND SPECIAL PENAL LAWS

(c) To be entitled to support services form the DSWD and

LGUs'

(d) To be entitled to all legal remedies and support as

provided for under the Family Code; and

(e) To be informed of their rights and the services

available to them including their right to apply for a

protection order.

SECTION 36. Damages. – Any victim of violence under

this Act shall be entitled to actual, compensatory, moral

and exemplary damages.

SECTION 37. Hold Departure Order. – The court shall

expedite the process of issuance of a hold departure

order in cases prosecuted under this Act.

SECTION 38. Exemption from Payment of Docket Fee

and Other Expenses. – If the victim is an indigent or there

is an immediate necessity due to imminent danger or

threat of danger to act on an application for a protection

order, the court shall accept the application without

payment of the filing fee and other fees and of transcript

of stenographic notes.

SECTION 39. Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against

Women and Their Children (IAC-VAWC). In pursuance of

the abovementioned policy, there is hereby established

an Inter-Agency Council on Violence Against Women and

their children, hereinafter known as the Council, which

shall be composed of the following agencies:

(a)

Department

of

Social

Welfare and Development

(DSWD);

(b) National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women

(NCRFW);

(c) Civil Service Commission (CSC);

(d) Commission on Human rights (CHR)

(e) Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC);

(f) Department of Justice (DOJ);

(g) Department of the Interior and Local Government

(DILG);

(h) Philippine National Police (PNP);

(i) Department of Health (DOH);

(j) Department of Education (DepEd);

(k) Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); and

(l) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

These agencies are tasked to formulate programs and

projects to eliminate VAW based on their mandates as

well as develop capability programs for their employees

to become more sensitive to the needs of their clients.

The Council will also serve as the monitoring body as

regards to VAW initiatives.

The

Council

members

may

designate

their

duly

authorized representative who shall have a rank not lower

than

an

assistant

secretary

or its equivalent. These

representatives shall attend Council meetings in their

behalf,

and

shall

receive

emoluments

as

may

be

determined by the Council in accordance with existing

budget and accounting rules and regulations.

SECTION 40. Mandatory Programs and Services for

Victims. – The DSWD, and LGUs shall provide the victims

temporary

shelters,

provide

counseling, psycho-social

services and /or, recovery, rehabilitation programs and

livelihood assistance.

The DOH shall provide medical assistance to victims.

SECTION 41. Counseling and Treatment of Offenders. –

The DSWD shall provide rehabilitative counseling and

treatment to perpetrators towards learning constructive

ways of coping with anger and emotional outbursts and

reforming their ways. When necessary, the offender shall

be

ordered

by

the

Court

to

submit

to

psychiatric

treatment or confinement.

SECTION 42. Training of Persons Involved in Responding

to Violence Against Women and their Children Cases. –

All agencies involved in responding to violence against

women and their children cases shall be required to

undergo education and training to acquaint them with:

a. the nature, extent and causes of violence against

women and their children;

b. the legal rights of, and remedies available to, victims of

violence against women and their children;

c.

the

services

and

facilities

available to victims or

survivors;

d. the legal duties imposed on police officers to make

arrest and to offer protection and assistance; and

e. techniques for handling incidents of violence against

women and their children that minimize the likelihood of

injury to the officer and promote the safety of the victim

or survivor.

The PNP, in coordination with LGUs shall establish an

education and training program for police officers and

barangay officials to enable them to properly handle

cases of violence against women and their children.

SECTION 43. Entitled to Leave. – Victims under this Act

shall be entitled to take a paid leave of absence up to ten

(10) days in addition to other paid leaves under the Labor

Code and Civil Service Rules and Regulations, extendible

when the necessity arises as specified in the protection

order.

Any employer who shall prejudice the right of the person

under this section shall be penalized in accordance with

the provisions of the Labor Code and Civil Service Rules

and

Regulations.

Likewise,

an

employer

who

shall

prejudice any person for assisting a co-employee who is a

victim

under

this

Act

shall

likewise

be

liable

for

discrimination.

SECTION 44. Confidentiality. – All records pertaining to

cases of violence against women and their children

including those in the barangay shall be confidential and

all public officers and employees and public or private

clinics to hospitals shall respect the right to privacy of the

victim. Whoever publishes or causes to be published, in

any

format,

the

name,

address,

telephone

number,

school, business address, employer, or other identifying

information of a victim or an immediate family member,

without

the

latter's

consent,

shall

be

liable

to

the

contempt power of the court.

Any person who violates this provision shall suffer the

penalty of one (1) year imprisonment and a fine of not

more than Five Hundred Thousand pesos (P500,000.00).

SECTION

45.

Funding

–

The

amount

necessary

to

implement the provisions of this Act shall be included in

the annual General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The Gender and Development (GAD) Budget of the

mandated

agencies

and

LGU's

shall

be

used

to

implement services for victim of violence against women

and their children.

SECTION 46. Implementing Rules and Regulations. –

Within six (6) months from the approval of this Act, the

DOJ, the NCRFW, the DSWD, the DILG, the DOH, and the

PNP, and three (3) representatives from NGOs to be

identified

by

the

NCRFW,

shall

promulgate

the

Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of this Act.

SECTION 47. Suppletory Application – For purposes of

this Act, the Revised Penal Code and other applicable

laws, shall have suppletory application.

SECTION 48. Separability Clause. – If any section or

provision of this Act is held unconstitutional or invalid, the

other sections or provisions shall not be affected.

SECTION 49. Repealing Clause – All laws, Presidential

decrees, executive orders and rules and regulations, or

parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act

are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 50. Effectivity – This Act shall take effect fifteen

(15) days from the date of its complete publication in at

least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

© Compiled By RGL

177 of 201