Sign anti-torture bill, Arroyo urged

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should sign the anti-torture bill now as one way of showing her administration’s resolve to uphold human rights, two opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives said on Thursday.

The bill has been ratified and transmitted to Malacanang on October 13. The President has 30 days to sign the bill or it would automatically lapse into a law.

“As members of Congress, we consider it as our obligation and responsibility to stop any acts of torture. We owe the citizenry a society free from tyranny, coercion and oppression from anyone or from any quarters in our country,” Sorsogon Representative Salvador Escudero III said in a statement.

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros also called for the enactment of the measure, noting the unabated cases of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings in the country.

The staggering number of cases of extrajudicial killings has generated condemnation even from international bodies, including the United Nations.

The Philippines was a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Escudero and Hontiveros were among the sponsors of the bill in the House along with Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr, Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tanada III, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino, Gabriela Reps. Liza MAza and Luzviminda Ilagan, and ARC Partylist Rep. Narciso Santiago.

The bill classified acts of torture as acts constituting physical torture such as systematic beating, food deprivation, electric shock, cigarette burning and rape among others, while mental and psychological torture refers to acts such as blindfolding, prolonged interrogation, maltreating a member or members of a person's family and denial of sleep among others.

“Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is a criminal act and shall apply to all circumstances,” it said.

A state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other public emergency, or a document or any determination comprising an order of battle, the bill said, should not and could not be invoked as a justification for torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

“Life imprisonment shall be meted on any person guilty of the following acts: torture resulting in the death of any person; torture resulting in mutilation; torture with rape and other forms of sexual abuse, when the victim has become insane, impotent, blind or maimed for life; and torture committed against children,” it further said.