A.M. No.
07-9-12-SC When issued by the Supreme Court or any of its justices, it may be returnable
(25 September 2007)
THE RULE ON THE WRIT OF AMPARO
SECTION 1. Petition. – The petition for a writ of amparo is a remedy available to
any person whose right to life, liberty and security is violated or threatened with
violation by an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee, or of a
private individual or entity.
The writ shall cover extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats
thereof.
SEC. 2. Who May File. – The petition may be filed by the aggrieved party or by
any qualified person or entity in the following order:
a. Any member of the immediate family, namely: the spouse, children and
parents of the aggrieved party;
b. Any ascendant, descendant or collateral relative of the aggrieved party
within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, in default of
those mentioned in the preceding paragraph; or
c. Any concerned citizen, organization, association or institution, if there is
no known member of the immediate family or relative of the aggrieved
party.
The filing of a petition by the aggrieved party suspends the right of all other
authorized parties to file similar petitions. Likewise, the filing of the petition by an
authorized party on behalf of the aggrieved party suspends the right of all
others, observing the order established herein.
SEC. 3. Where to File. – The petition may be filed on any day and at any time
with the Regional Trial Court of the place where the threat, act or omission was
committed or any of its elements occurred, or with the Sandiganbayan, the Court
of Appeals, the Supreme Court, or any justice of such courts. The writ shall be
enforceable anywhere in the Philippines.
When issued by a Regional Trial Court or any judge thereof, the writ shall be
returnable before such court or judge.
When issued by the Sandiganbayan or the Court of Appeals or any of their
justices, it may be returnable before such court or any justice thereof, or to any
Regional Trial Court of the place where the threat, act or omission was committed
or any of its elements occurred.
before such Court or any justice thereof, or before the Sandiganbayan or the
Court of Appeals or any of their justices, or to any Regional Trial Court of the
place where the threat, act or omission was committed or any of its elements
occurred.
SEC. 4. No Docket Fees. – The petitioner shall be exempted from the payment of
the docket and other lawful fees when filing the petition. The court, justice or
judge shall docket the petition and act upon it immediately.
SEC. 5. Contents of Petition. – The petition shall be signed and verified and shall
allege the following:
a. The personal circumstances of the petitioner;
b. The name and personal circumstances of the respondent responsible for
the threat, act or omission, or, if the name is unknown or uncertain, the
respondent may be described by an assumed appellation;
c. The right to life, liberty and security of the aggrieved party violated or
threatened with violation by an unlawful act or omission of the
respondent, and how such threat or violation is committed with the
attendant circumstances detailed in supporting affidavits;
d. The investigation conducted, if any, specifying the names, personal
circumstances, and addresses of the investigating authority or individuals,
as well as the manner and conduct of the investigation, together with any
report;
e. The actions and recourses taken by the petitioner to determine the fate
or whereabouts of the aggrieved party and the identity of the person
responsible for the threat, act or omission; and
f. The relief prayed for.
The petition may include a general prayer for other just and equitable reliefs.
SEC. 6. Issuance of the Writ. – Upon the filing of the petition, the court, justice or
judge shall immediately order the issuance of the writ if on its face it ought to
issue. The clerk of court shall issue the writ under the seal of the court; or in case
of urgent necessity, the justice or the judge may issue the writ under his or her own
hand, and may deputize any officer or person to serve it.
The writ shall also set the date and time for summary hearing of the petition
which shall not be later than seven (7) days from the date of its issuance.
SEC. 7. Penalty for Refusing to Issue or Serve the Writ. – A clerk of court who
refuses to issue the writ after its allowance, or a deputized person who refuses to
serve the same, shall be punished by the court, justice or judge for contempt
without prejudice to other disciplinary actions.
SEC. 8. How the Writ is Served. – The writ shall be served upon the respondent by
a judicial officer or by a person deputized by the court, justice or judge who shall
retain a copy on which to make a return of service. In case the writ cannot be
served personally on the respondent, the rules on substituted service shall apply.
SEC. 9. Return; Contents. – Within seventy-two (72) hours after service of the writ,
the respondent shall file a verified written return together with supporting
affidavits which shall, among other things, contain the following:
a. The lawful defenses to show that the respondent did not violate or
threaten with violation the right to life, liberty and security of the
aggrieved party, through any act or omission;
b. The steps or actions taken by the respondent to determine the fate or
whereabouts of the aggrieved party and the person or persons
responsible for the threat, act or omission;
c. All relevant information in the possession of the respondent pertaining to
the threat, act or omission against the aggrieved party; and
d. If the respondent is a public official or employee, the return shall further
state the actions that have been or will still be taken:
i. to verify the identity of the aggrieved party;
ii. to recover and preserve evidence related to the death or
disappearance of the person identified in the petition which may
aid in the prosecution of the person or persons responsible;
iii. to identify witnesses and obtain statements from them concerning
the death or disappearance;
iv. to determine the cause, manner, location and time of death or
disappearance as well as any pattern or practice that may
have brought about the death or disappearance;
v. to identify and apprehend the person or persons involved in the
death or disappearance; and
vi. to bring the suspected offenders before a competent court.
The return shall also state other matters relevant to the investigation, its resolution
and the prosecution of the case.
A general denial of the allegations in the petition shall not be allowed.
SEC. 10. Defenses not Pleaded Deemed Waived. — All defenses shall be raised in
the return, otherwise, they shall be deemed waived.
SEC. 11. Prohibited Pleadings and Motions. – The following pleadings and motions
are prohibited:
a. Motion to dismiss;
b. Motion for extension of time to file return, opposition, affidavit, position
paper and other pleadings;
c. Dilatory motion for postponement;
d. Motion for a bill of particulars;
e. Counterclaim or cross-claim;
f. Third-party complaint;
g. Reply;
h. Motion to declare respondent in default;
i. Intervention;
j. Memorandum;
k. Motion for reconsideration of interlocutory orders or interim relief orders;
and
l. Petition for certiorari, mandamus or prohibition against any interlocutory
order.
SEC. 12. Effect of Failure to File Return. — In case the respondent fails to file a
return, the court, justice or judge shall proceed to hear the petition ex parte.
SEC. 13. Summary Hearing. — The hearing on the petition shall be summary.
However, the court, justice or judge may call for a preliminary conference to
simplify the issues and determine the possibility of obtaining stipulations and
admissions from the parties.
The hearing shall be from day to day until completed and given the same priority
as petitions for habeas corpus.
SEC. 14. Interim Reliefs. — Upon filing of the petition or at anytime before final
judgment, the court, justice or judge may grant any of the following reliefs:
(a) Temporary Protection Order. – The court, justice or judge, upon
motion or motu proprio, may order that the petitioner or the aggrieved
party and any member of the immediate family be protected in a
government agency or by an accredited person or private institution
capable of keeping and securing their safety. If the petitioner is an
organization, association or institution referred to in Section 3(c) of this
Rule, the protection may be extended to the officers involved.
The Supreme Court shall accredit the persons and private institutions that
shall extend temporary protection to the petitioner or the aggrieved
party and any member of the immediate family, in accordance with
guidelines which it shall issue.
The accredited persons and private institutions shall comply with the rules
and conditions that may be imposed by the court, justice or judge.
(b) Inspection Order. — The court, justice or judge, upon verified motion
and after due hearing, may order any person in possession or control of
a designated land or other property, to permit entry for the purpose of
inspecting, measuring, surveying, or photographing the property or any
relevant object or operation thereon.
The motion shall state in detail the place or places to be inspected. It
shall be supported by affidavits or testimonies of witnesses having
personal knowledge of the enforced disappearance or whereabouts of
the aggrieved party.
If the motion is opposed on the ground of national security or of the
privileged nature of the information, the court, justice or judge may
conduct a hearing in chambers to determine the merit of the opposition.
The movant must show that the inspection order is necessary to establish
the right of the aggrieved party alleged to be threatened or violated.
The inspection order shall specify the person or persons authorized to
make the inspection and the date, time, place and manner of making the
inspection and may prescribe other conditions to protect the constitutional
rights of all parties. The order shall expire five (5) days after the date
of its issuance, unless extended for justifiable reasons.
(c) Production Order. – The court, justice or judge, upon verified motion
and after due hearing, may order any person in possession, custody or
control of any designated documents, papers, books, accounts, letters,
photographs, objects or tangible things, or objects in digitized or
electronic form, which constitute or contain evidence relevant to the
petition or the return, to produce and permit their inspection, copying or
photographing by or on behalf of the movant.
The motion may be opposed on the ground of national security or of the
privileged nature of the information, in which case the court, justice or
judge may conduct a hearing in chambers to determine the merit of the
opposition.
The court, justice or judge shall prescribe other conditions to protect the
constitutional rights of all the parties.
(d) Witness Protection Order. – The court, justice or judge, upon motion
or motu proprio, may refer the witnesses to the Department of Justice for
admission to the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Program,
pursuant to Republic Act No. 6981.
The court, justice or judge may also refer the witnesses to other
government agencies, or to accredited persons or private institutions
capable of keeping and securing their safety.
SEC. 15. Availability of Interim Reliefs to Respondent. – Upon verified motion of the
respondent and after due hearing, the court, justice or judge may issue an
inspection order or production order under paragraphs (b) and (c) of the
preceding section.
A motion for inspection order under this section shall be supported by affidavits
or testimonies of witnesses having personal knowledge of the defenses of the
respondent.
SEC. 16. Contempt. – The court, justice or judge may order the respondent who
refuses to make a return, or who makes a false return, or any person who
otherwise disobeys or resists a lawful process or order of the court to be punished
for contempt. The contemnor may be imprisoned or imposed a fine.
SEC. 17. Burden of Proof and Standard of Diligence Required. – The parties shall
establish their claims by substantial evidence.
The respondent who is a private individual or entity must prove that ordinary
diligence as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations was observed in
the performance of duty.
The respondent who is a public official or employee must prove that
extraordinary diligence as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations
was observed in the performance of duty.
The respondent public official or employee cannot invoke the presumption that
official duty has been regularly performed to evade responsibility or liability.
SEC. 18. Judgment. — The court shall render judgment within ten (10) days from
the time the petition is submitted for decision. If the allegations in the petition are
proven by substantial evidence, the court shall grant the privilege of the writ and
such reliefs as may be proper and appropriate; otherwise, the privilege shall be
denied.
SEC. 19. Appeal. – Any party may appeal from the final judgment or order to the
Supreme Court under Rule 45. The appeal may raise questions of fact or law or
both.
The period of appeal shall be five (5) working days from the date of notice of
the adverse judgment.
The appeal shall be given the same priority as in habeas corpus cases.
SEC. 20. Archiving and Revival of Cases. – The court shall not dismiss the petition,
but shall archive it, if upon its determination it cannot proceed for a valid cause
such as the failure of petitioner or witnesses to appear due to threats on their
lives.
SEC. 26. Applicability to Pending Cases. – This Rule shall govern cases involving
extralegal killings and enforced disappearances or threats thereof pending in the
trial and appellate courts.
SEC. 27. Effectivity. – This Rule shall take effect on October 24, 2007, following
its publication in three (3) newspapers of general circulation

A periodic review of the archived cases shall be made by the amparo court that
shall, motu proprio or upon motion by any party, order their revival when ready
for further proceedings. The petition shall be dismissed with prejudice upon
failure to prosecute the case after the lapse of two (2) years from notice to the
petitioner of the order archiving the case.

The clerks of court shall submit to the Office of the Court Administrator a
consolidated list of archived cases under this Rule not later than the first week of
January of every year.

SEC. 21. Institution of Separate Actions. — This Rule shall not preclude the filing of
separate criminal, civil or administrative actions.

SEC. 22. Effect of Filing of a Criminal Action. – When a criminal action has been
commenced, no separate petition for the writ shall be filed. The reliefs under the
writ shall be available by motion in the criminal case.

The procedure under this Rule shall govern the disposition of the reliefs available
under the writ of amparo.

SEC. 23. Consolidation. – When a criminal action is filed subsequent to the filing of
a petition for the writ, the latter shall be consolidated with the criminal action.

When a criminal action and a separate civil action are filed subsequent to a
petition for a writ of amparo, the latter shall be consolidated with the criminal
action.

After consolidation, the procedure under this Rule shall continue to apply to the
disposition of the reliefs in the petition.

SEC. 24. Substantive Rights. — This Rule shall not diminish, increase or modify
substantive rights recognized and protected by the Constitution.

SEC. 25. Suppletory Application of the Rules of Court. – The Rules of Court shall
apply suppletorily insofar as it is not inconsistent with this Rule.
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) Order 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 disclose the victim’s whereabouts to his or her immediate family,
relatives, lawyer/s or to a human rights organization by the most expedient
means.
Section 10. Official Up-to-Date Register of All Persons Detained or Confined. - All
persons detained or confined shall be placed solely in officially recognized and
controlled places of detention or confinement where an official up-to-date
register of such persons shall be maintained. Relatives, lawyers, judges, official
bodies and all persons who have legitimate interest in the whereabouts and
condition of the persons deprived of liberty shall have free access to the register.
The following details, among others, shall be recorded, in the register:
(a) The identity or name, description and address of the person deprived
of liberty;
(b) The date, time and location where the person was deprived of liberty
and the identity of the person who made such deprivation of liberty;
(c) The authority who decided the deprivation of liberty and the reasons
for the deprivation of liberty or the crime or offense committed;
(d) The authority controlling the deprivation of liberty;
(e) The place of deprivation of liberty, the date and time of admission to
the place of deprivation of liberty and the authority responsible for the
place of deprivation of liberty;
(f) Records of physical, mental and psychological condition of the
detained or confined person before and after the deprivation of liberty
and the name and address of the physician who examined him or her
physically, mentally and medically;
(g) The date and time of release or transfer of the detained or confined
person to another place of detention, the destination and the authority
responsible for the transfer;
(h) The date and time of each removal of the detained or confined
person from his or her cell, the reason or purpose for such removal and
the date and time of his or her return to his or her cell;
(i) A summary of the physical, mental and medical findings of the
detained or confined person after each interrogation;
(j) The names and addresses of the persons who visit the detained or
confined person and the date and time of such visits and the date and
time of each departure;
(k) In the event of death during the deprivation of liberty, the identity,
the circumstances and cause of death of the victim as well as the
destination of the human remains; and
(l) All other important events bearing on and all relevant details
regarding the treatment of the detained or confined person.
Provided, That the details required under letters (a) to (f) shall be entered
immediately in the register upon arrest and/or detention.
All information contained in the register shall be regularly or upon request
reported to the CHR or any other agency of government tasked to monitor and
protect human rights and shall be made available to the public.
Section 11. Submission of List of Government Detention Facilities. –Within six (6)
months from the effectivity of this Act and as may be requested by the CHR
thereafter, all government agencies concerned shall submit an updated inventory
or list of all officially recognized and controlled detention or confinement
facilities, and the list of detainees or persons deprived of liberty under their
respective jurisdictions to the CHR.
Section 12. Immediate Issuance and Compliance of the Writs of Habeas Corpus,
Amparo and Habeas Data. – All proceedings pertaining to the issuance of the
writs of habeas corpus, amparo and habeas data shall be dispensed with
expeditiously. As such, all courts and other concerned agencies of government
shall give priority to such proceedings.
Moreover, any order issued or promulgated pursuant to such writs or their
respective proceedings shall be executed and complied with immediately.
Section 13. Visitation /Inspection of Places of Detention and, Confinement. –The
CHR or its duly authorized representatives are hereby mandated and authorized
to conduct regular, independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to or
inspection of all places of detention and confinement.
Section 14. Liability of Commanding Officer or Superior. - The immediate
commanding officer of the unit concerned of the AFP or the immediate senior
official of the PNP and other law enforcement agencies shall be held liable as a
principal to the crime of enforced or involuntary disappearance for acts
committed by him or her that shall have led, assisted, abetted or allowed,
whether directly or indirectly, the commission thereof by his or her subordinates. If
such commanding officer has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the
time, should have known that an enforced or involuntary disappearance is being
committed, or has been committed by subordinates or by others within the
officer’s area of responsibility and, despite such knowledge, did not take
preventive or coercive action either before, during or immediately after its
commission, when he or she has the authority to prevent or investigate allegations
of enforced or involuntary disappearance but failed to prevent or investigate
such allegations, whether deliberately or due to negligence, shall also be held
liable as principal.
Section 15. Penal Provisions. – (a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua and its
accessory penalties shall be imposed upon the following persons:
(1) Those who directly committed the act of enforced or involuntary
disappearance;
(2) Those who directly forced, instigated, encouraged or induced others
to commit the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance;
(3) Those who cooperated in the act of enforced or involuntary
disappearance by committing another act without which the act of
enforced or involuntary disappearance would not have been
consummated;
(4) Those officials who allowed the act or abetted in the consummation of
enforced or involuntary disappearance when it is within their power to
stop or uncover the commission thereof; and
(5) Those who cooperated in the execution of the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance by previous or simultaneous acts.
(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal and its accessory penalties shall be imposed
upon those who shall commit the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance in
the attempted stage as provided for and defined under Article 6 of the Revised
Penal Code.
(c) The penalty of reclusion temporal and its accessory penalties shall also be
imposed upon persons who, having knowledge of the act of enforced or
involuntary disappearance and without having participated therein, either as
principals or accomplices, took part subsequent to its commission in any of the
following manner:
(1) By themselves profiting from or assisting the offender to profit from
the effects of the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance;
(2) By concealing the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance
and/or destroying the effects or instruments thereof in order to prevent
its discovery; or
(3) By harboring, concealing or assisting in the escape of the principal/s
in the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance, provided such
accessory acts are done with the abuse of official functions.
(d) The penalty of prision correctional and its accessory penalties shall be
imposed against persons who defy, ignore or unduly delay compliance with any
order duly issued or promulgated pursuant to the writs of habeas corpus,
amparo and habeas data or their respective proceedings.
(e) The penalty of arresto mayor and its accessory penalties shall be imposed
against any person who shall violate the provisions of Sections 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
of this Act.
Section 16. Preventive Suspension/Summary Dismissal. –Government officials and
personnel who are found to be perpetrators of or participants in any manner in
the commission of enforced or involuntary disappearance as a result of a
preliminary investigation conducted for that purpose shall be preventively
suspended or summarily dismissed from the service, depending on the strength of
the evidence so presented and gathered in the said preliminary investigation or
as may be recommended by the investigating authority.
Section 17. Civil Liability. –The act of enforced or involuntary disappearance
shall render its perpetrators and the State agencies which organized, acquiesced
in or tolerated such disappearance liable under civil law.
Section 18. Independent Liability. –The criminal liability of the offender under this
Act shall be independent of or without prejudice to the prosecution and conviction
of the said offender for any violation of Republic Act No. 7438, otherwise known
as "An Act Defining Certain Rights of Person Arrested, Detained or Under
Custodial Investigation as well as the Duties of the Arresting, Detaining, and
Investigating Officers, and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof’; Republic
Act No. 9745, otherwise known as "An Act Penalizing Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Prescribing Penalties
Therefor"; and applicable provisions of the Revised Penal Code.
Section 19. Nonexclusivity or Double Jeopardy Under International Law. – Any
investigation, trial and decision in any Philippines court, or body for any violation
of this Act shall; be without prejudice to any investigation, trial, decision or any
other legal or administrative process before any appropriate international court
or agency under applicable international human rights and humanitarian law.
Section 20. Exemption from Prosecution. – Any offender who volunteers
information that leads to the discovery of the victim of enforced or involuntary
disappearance or the prosecution of the offenders without the victim being found
shall be exempt from any criminal and/or civil liability under this Act: Provided,
That said offender does not appear to be the most guilty.
Section 21. Continuing Offense. – An act constituting enforced or involuntary
disappearance shall be considered a continuing offense as long as the
perpetrators continue to conceal the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared
person and such circumstances have not been determined with certainty.
Section 22. Statue of Limitations Exemption. – The prosecution of persons
responsible for enforced or involuntary disappearance shall not prescribe unless
the victim surfaces alive. In which case, the prescriptive period shall be twenty-
five (25) years from the date of such reappearance.
Section 23. Special Amnesty Law Exclusion. – Persons who are changed with
and/or guilty of the act of enforced or involuntary disappearance shall not
benefit from any special amnesty law or other similar executive measures that
shall exempt them from any penal proceedings or sanctions.
Section 24. State Protection – The State, through its appropriate agencies, shall
ensure the safety of all persons involved in the search, investigation and
prosecution of enforced or involuntary disappearance including, but not limited
to, the victims, their families, complainants, witnesses, legal counsel and
representatives of human rights organizations and media. They shall likewise be
protected from any intimidation or reprisal.
Section 25. 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 enforced or involuntary
disappearance. For purposes of determining whether such grounds exist, the
Secretary of the Department, of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the
Department of Justice (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 26. Restitution and Compensation to Victims of Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance and/or Their Immediate Relatives. –The victims of enforced or
involuntary disappearance who surface alive shall be entitled to monetary
compensation, rehabilitation and restitution of honor and reputation. Such
restitution of honor and reputation shall include immediate expunging or
rectification of any derogatory record, information or public
declaration/statement on his or her person, personal circumstances, status, and/or
organizational affiliation by the appropriate government or private agency or
agencies concerned.
The immediate relatives of a victim of enforced or involuntary disappearance,
within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity, may also claim for
compensation as provided for under Republic Act No. 7309, entitled "An Act
Creating a Board of Claims under the Department of Justice for Victims of Unjust
Imprisonment or Detention and Victims of Violent Crimes and For Other Purposes",
and other relief programs of the government.
The package of indemnification for both the victims and the immediate relatives
within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity shall be without
prejudice to other legal remedies that may be available to them.
Section 27. Rehabilitation of Victims and/or Their Immediate Relatives, and
Offenders. – In order that the victims of enforced or involuntary disappearance
who surfaced alive and/or their immediate relatives within the fourth civil degree
of consanguinity or affinity, may be effectively reintegrated into the mainstream
of society and in the process of development, the State, through the CHR, in
coordination with the Department of Health, the Department of Social Welfare
and Development (DSWD) and the concerned nongovernment organization/s,
shall provide them with appropriate medical care and rehabilitation free of
charge.
Toward the attainment of restorative justice, a parallel rehabilitation program for
persons who have committed enforced or involuntary disappearance shall
likewise be implemented without cost to such offenders.
Section 28. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within thirty (30) days from the
effectivity of this Act, the DOJ, the DSWD, the CHR, the Families of Victims of
Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) and the Families of Desaparecidos for
Justice (Desaparecidos), in consultation with other human rights organizations, shall
jointly promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective implementation of
this Act and shall ensure the full dissemination of the same to the public.

Section 29. Suppletory Applications. – The applicable provisions of the Revised

Penal Code shall have suppletory application insofar as they are consistent with
the provisions of this Act.

Section 30. Appropriations. –The amount of Ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00) is

hereby appropriated for the initial implementation of this Act by the CHR.
Subsequent fluids for the continuing implementation of this Act shall be included in
the respective budgets of the CHR and the DOJ in the annual General
Appropriations Act.

Section 31. Separability Clause. –If for any reason, any section or provision of this
Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, such other sections or provisions not
affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 32. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations and other issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of
this Act are hereby repealed, amended or modified accordingly.

Section 33. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after
its publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation or the Official
Gazette, which shall not be later than seven (7) days after the approval thereof.