An Anti-Torture Law is long overdue. Let us not allow the list of torture victims to get any longer. The law has to be enacted now for the following reasons:

1. Torture is inhuman, cruel, degrading, unjust, It is an affront on human dignity. It is dehumanizing in its brutality. It breaks the victim's will to resist. It inflicts lasting incalculable mental and physical health injuries, It terrifies not only individuals but entire communities. It is a condemnable state-perpetrated terrorism that mocks government's anti-terrorism campaign.
2. Torture violates various international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, United Nations Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
3. Torture is a blatant violation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution that unequivocally declares under Article II, Sec. 11 that "The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights."

   More specifically Article III, The Bill of Rights, provides under Sec. 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...
   2. No torture, force, violence, threat, intimidation or any other means which vitiate the free will shall be used ... Secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention are prohibited.
   3. Any confession or admission obtained in violation of this or Sec. 17 hereof shall be inadmissible in evidence against him,
   4. The law shall provide for penal and civil sanctions for violation of this section as well as compensation to and rehabilitation of victims of torture or similar practices, and their families,

   Sec. 17, "No person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself"

   Sec. 19:

   1. Excessive fines shall not be imposed nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted ...
   2. The employment of physical, psychological or degrading punishment against any prisoner or detainee or the use of substandard or inadequate penal facilities under subhuman conditions shall be dealt with by law.

4. Recognizing the gravity of torture, previous amnesty laws such as Proclamation No. 348 issued on March 25, 1994 as amended by Proclamation No. 377 and Proclamation No. 723 and concurred in by Congress through Concurrent Resolutions numbered 12-A and 14, respectively, excluded torture among other serious human rights violations from the coverage of such amnesty laws.

   Sec. 1 of Proclamation No. 348 provides: "Amnesty is hereby granted to all personnel of the AFP and the PNP who shall apply therefor and who have and may have committed.., acts or omissions punishable under the Revised Penal Code, the Articles of War and other special laws... Provided, such acts or omissions do not constitute acts of torture, arson, massacre, rape, other crimes against chastity, or robbery... (Underscoring supplied)

5. Notwithstanding the absence of a law specifically defining and penalizing torture, acts constituting torture violate RA 7438 which defines the rights of all persons arrested, detained or under custodial investigation as well as the duties of the arresting, detaining and investigating officers. Torture also contravenes the appropriate procedures during apprehension, investigation and trial of suspects arid accused under the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure.

6. Commission of torture remains unabated. The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) continues to document cases of torture even as the Medical Action Group has been treating torture victims from  the Marcos regime to the present Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

7. Human rights advocates and defenders have steadfastly lobbied for the enactment of an Anti-Torture Law since the 8th Congress during which the first bill that sought to penalize torture was filed.

In the wake of government's determination to obtain information vital to national security in line with its anti-terrorism campaign or to extract information from suspected coup plotters and so-called destabilizers, it becomes more urgent to put in place safeguards against torture.

We must ensure that the human and legal rights of persons arrested, detained, imprisoned or under custodial investigation are protected and upheld.

Time is of the essence. We must hold state agents or persons in authority who torture the very citizens they are sworn to protect and defend accountable criminally and civilly for their heinous offense.

It behooves Congress to enact an Anti-Torture Law now. Lest by its act of omission it tolerates a culture of impunity.