Michaela De Guzman JD-1C

REPUBLIC ACT N0. 9745

AN ACT PENALIZING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN
AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT AND
PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR

Republic Act no. 9745 otherwise known as “Anti-Torture Act of 2009” was passed into
law by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in November 10, 2009. This is in conformity
with the constitutional right of a person under custodial investigation enshrined under Article III
Section 12 of the 1987 constitution which provides:

Section 12. (1) Any person under investigation for the commission of an offense shall have the right to be
informed of his right to remain silent and to have competent and independent counsel preferably of his own
choice. If the person cannot afford the services of counsel, he must be provided with one. These rights
cannot be waived except in writing and in the presence of counsel.
(2) No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation, or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be
used against him. Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are
prohibited.
(3) Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Section 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in
evidence against him.
(4) The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violations of this section as well as compensation
to and rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families.

In addition, this law was made to adhere to UN Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment And Punishment(UNCAT), which the Philippines is a
signatory. 1Before the enactment of this law Philippines punished torture using Art. 235 of the
Revised Penal Code which provides:

Art. 235. Maltreatment of prisoners. — The penalty of arresto mayor in its medium period to prision
correccional in its minimum period, in addition to his liability for the physical injuries or damage caused,
shall be imposed upon any public officer or employee who shall overdo himself in the correction or
handling of a prisoner or detention prisoner under his charge, by the imposition of punishment not
authorized by the regulations, or by inflicting such punishment in a cruel and humiliating
manner.chanrobles virtual law library

If the purpose of the maltreatment is to extort a confession, or to obtain some information from the
prisoner, the offender shall be punished by prision correccional in its minimum period, temporary special
disqualification and a fine not exceeding 500 pesos, in addition to his liability for the physical injuries or
damage caused.

The distinction between Anti-Torture Act and Art 235 are the following: Art 235 covers
only convict by final judgment and detention Prisoner while Anti Torture Act covers any person
who was deprived of his liberty, detained, under custodial investigation, under custody and

1
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Article 2
1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative,
judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any
territory under its jurisdiction.
2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of
war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other
public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.
3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not
be invoked as a justification of torture.
arrest. Unlike Art 235 which covers only Physical Torture, Anti Torture Act covers Mental
Torture.

With the enactment of R.A no. 9745 we can say that the rights of a person to liberty and
against torture are fully protected other than those mentioned under the Revised Penal Code.

The Acts punished under R.A no 9745

The Acts punished under R.A no 9745 are:

1. Torture;
2. Other and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

It also prohibits:

1. Secret Detention Places

2. Solitary Confinement
3. Incommunicado
4. Other similar forms of detention where torture may be carried out with impunity, are
prohibited;

Torture defined as:

"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 Buffering arising only from, inherent in or
incidental to lawful sanctions.

Other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment defined as:

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.

Forms of Torture:

 Physical Torture
 Mental / Psychological Torture

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.
 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.
Example of Physical and Mental Torture mentioned in the law.
Physical Torture
(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;
(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 or 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;
Persons Criminally Liable:
PRINCIPAL
ACCOMPLICE
ACCESSORY
Mental Torture
(1) Blindfolding;
(2) Threatening a person(s) or his/fher 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.
1. By actual participation
2. By inducement
3. By indispensable cooperation
4. For issuing an order to any lower ranking
personnel like military, police or law
enforcement to commit any act of torture
5. By the application of command
responsibility
One who did not perform any acts of the principal
but cooperated in the execution of the crime by
previous or simultaneous act
Any public officer or employee who 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 m the escape of
the principal/s 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.

Right to Physical Medical and Psychological Examination of Person Arrested, Detained or

under Custodial Investigation:

• 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 he provided
by the State with a competent and independent doctor to conduct physical examination.
• If the person arrested is a female, she shall be attended to preferably by a female doctor
• 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. 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 he
attached to the custodial investigation report. Such report shall be considered a public
document.