• REP. EDCEL C. LAGMAN
• Independent, Albay
• 22 March 2012
• 0916-6406741 / 0918-9120137

HOUSE PASSES DESAPARECIDOS BILL

          “The Philippines may soon hold the singular distinction of having enacted the first domestic law in Asia that criminalizes enforced or involuntary disappearance,” enthused Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, principal author of House Bill No. 98, the proposed “Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012”.

           The House of Representatives passed the desaparecidos bill on third and final reading with 234 affirmative votes, zero negative, and no abstention on 21 March 2012, the last session day before the Lenten recess.  

           Essentially adopting the United Nations’ definition of enforced disappearance, House Bill No. 98 defines the offense as the “arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by government authorities or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of such persons in authority, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate and whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such person outside the protection of the law.”

           According to Lagman “a two-decade gestation for this invaluable human rights legislation is not only inordinately long. It is a grave injustice to the desaparecidos and their families who are also victims as they suffer interminable pain and anguish over the unknown fate and whereabouts of their disappeared loved ones.”

           “This measure reaffirms the principles of State accountability, justice and the rule of law. It is envisioned to help government prevent, suppress, investigate and penalize enforced disappearance as well as provide victims and their families effective machinery for reparation and redress,” Lagman stressed.

           Members of the Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND) who were in the session hall gallery yesterday hailed the long awaited plenary approval.

           Lagman, who is also the Honorary Chairperson of FIND, said that although the Philippines has not yet signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPAPED), the country is already poised to comply with a vital provision of the Convention that mandates States Parties to enact domestic laws penalizing enforced disappearance as an autonomous or separate offense.

           “With the approval of H.B. No. 98, the Congress is laying the groundwork for the country’s compliance with the landmark international human rights convention,” the Albay solon said.

           The ICPAPED entered into force on December 23, 2010 and to date has 91 signatories and 31 States Parties.

           “I see no reason for the Philippines’ temporizing on the ICPAPED which is the basis of the proposed anti-enforced disappearance law,” Lagman said.

           Lagman urged President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, whose father was a victim of grave human rights violations, to champion the cause of the disappeared by ensuring the enactment and full implementation of the complementary domestic and international laws on enforced disappearance.

           As a human rights advocate, Lagman is also the principal author of RA 9346 prohibiting the imposition of the death penalty, RA 9745 penalizing torture as a separate offense, and HB 5990 proposing compensation to victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime, which was also approved on third reading on 21 March 2012.