AMENDING ANTIQUATED ACTS ANTICIPATED TO UNSHACKLE PINOYS FROM LEGAL TETHERS

MANY Filipinos, especially women and the riding public, are living at the outskirts of civilization because of laws that have become their tethers to the Dark Ages.

Several lawmakers want to change that. For Deputy Majority Leader Bernadette Herrera-Dy of Bagong Henerasyon partylist, it starts this year.

According to Herrera-Dy, 2020 would be the year for Congress’s “war” on obsolete laws.

This year would be Congress’s “strongest push to reset some of our country’s oldest laws, including those on public utilities and transportation, which have caused much suffering among Filipinos.”

The main source of the suffering is the Revised Penal Code (RPC), a set of laws concerning crimes and offenses and their punishment that took effect on January 1, 1932.

According to lawmakers, several articles in the RPC contradict more recent laws and have been inimical against women.

Enacted nearly a century ago, the RPC contains antiquated provisions and deals with crimes that are now irrelevant to and fails to address current conditions. Also, penalties provided in the said law have also become obsolete, according to members of the Makabayan bloc in the Lower House.

These lawmakers have refiled in the 18th Congress their bill repealing Article 247 of the RPC that, they said, practically gives license to take life without due process of law and allowing the killer to go scot-free sans a slap on the hand.

Penal Code

UNDER Article 247 of the RPC, “any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill any of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro.”

Being penalized as a destierro

means one is prohibited from entering within a radius of at least 25 kilometers of a designated place.

“If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be exempt from punishment,” Article 247 continued. “These rules shall be applicable, under the same circumstances, to parents with respect to their daughters under eighteen years of age, and their seducer, while the daughters are living with their parents.”

According to Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Carlos Isagani T. Zarate, the law even vaguely provides that it applies not only during sexual intercourse but also immediately after sexual intercourse, which practically allows the killing of a spouse even if the killer is not sure that a sexual act has indeed been committed.

Gabriela Partylist Rep. Arlene D. Brosas said Article 247 must be immediately repealed as it violates Section 1 of the Constitution that prohibits the taking of life without due process of law.

Brosas said the immediate repeal of the article will protect and preserve life, protect children and promote women’s rights and gender equality.

Unequal treatment

LAWMAKERS are also pushing for the bill decriminalizing adultery and concubinage as provided in the RPC.

Under the RPC, extra-marital affairs committed by married men and women are both considered criminal acts; however, they are not treated equally.

Article 333 of the RPC cites that adultery “is committed by any married woman who shall have sexual intercourse with a man not her husband and by the man who has carnal knowledge of her knowing her to be married, even if the marriage be subsequently declared void.”

Article 334, on the other hand, provides that the husband can only be convicted of the crime of concubinage if he is found guilty of any of the following: keeping a mistress in conjugal dwelling; having sexual intercourse under scandalous circumstances with a woman who is not his wife; or, cohabiting with her in any other place.

The Makabayan bloc said the husband needs only to prove that his wife engaged in a sexual intercourse with a man not her husband, while the wife needs to show that her husband’s sexual intercourse with another woman was done “under scandalous circumstances.”

Under the third circumstance when concubinage is committed, it is not enough that the husband is keeping a paramour in another house and it must also be shown that the husband lives with the paramour in that house.

Blackmail

THE Makabayan bloc said that “the abolition of this stricter moral standard on fidelity on married women vis-a-vis their male counterparts, which standard was set in the 1930s when the RPC took effect, is long overdue.”

The Gabriela partylist said these provisions in the RPC discriminate against and results to more difficulty for women and considering further that women are amply protected under Republic Act 9262, which criminalizes violence again women and their children. RA 9262 is also known as the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) Act of 2004.

The women’s group added that, in practice, Articles 333 and 334 are often resorted to only as bargaining suits to get the other party in a nullity petition to cooperate or to give in support negotiations. The group said they arrived at such conclusion based on consultations with and cases referred to Gabriela.

“They are blackmailed by their estranged husbands through Article 333,” Gabriela said. “In many cases, women who are faced by these threats are forced to forego legitimate custodial claims of their children while some are forced to give up their claims over conjugal properties; assets and the like.”

Quezon Rep. Aleta E. Suarez, in his HB 3989, said that given its continuing nature and the particular conditions required, concubinage is more difficult to prove while adultery is punished more severely than concubinage.

“The distinction is a clear discrimination against women. This is being used by husbands to blackmail the wives for filing complaints, especially when both parties have [legal] grounds under Articles 333 and 334,” it added.

Leaves discretion

WHILE the 1987 Constitution provides the practice of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, in the Philippines one can still face imprisonment for offending religious feelings.

Article 133 of the RPC states that “the penalty of arresto mayor

in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon anyone who, in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony, shall perform acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful.”

Recently, Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman filed House Bill (HB) 5170 to repeal the “archaic” Article 133 in memory of Carlos Celdran, a fellow Reproductive Health (RH) advocate.

He said Article 133 is “utterly subjective and leaves to the undue discretion of the court to divine the inculpatory element of ‘wounded religious feelings.’”

“It is an amorphous offense and fails to set any objective standards on the gravamen of the crime,” Lagman added.

He said Article 133 is anathema to freedom of speech and expression, which is guaranteed under the Bill of Rights in the 1935, 1973 and the present 1987 Constitution.

“The Bill of Rights is a compendium of individual rights which are protected from transgressions principally by the State, not by private persons,” he said.

Improvident conviction

ACCORDING to Lagman, the repeal of Article 133 will foreclose similar prosecutions and travails of well-meaning critics that, he said, Celdran unjustifiably suffered and endured.

He underscored that Celdran died a freeman because the Supreme Court failed to resolve with finality Celdran’s pending motion for reconsideration of his improvident conviction of “wounding religious feelings.”

Lagman said it is now incumbent on Congress to accord justice and redress to Celdran by repealing Article 133 that, he said, is “an odious remnant of the Dark Ages” and “offensive to the freedom of expression.”

At the height of the arduous crusade for the enactment of the RH Bill, now Republic Act 10354, Celdran, dressed as national hero Jose Rizal, walked toward the main altar of the Manila Cathedral where an ecumenical service was being held on the joint distribution of bibles by Catholic and Protestant leaders.

That day, September 30, 2010, Celdran raised a placard bearing the word “Damaso” in reference to the villainous friar from Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere.

Celdran, who was charged with violating Article 133 on “offending religious feelings,” died of a heart attack in Madrid last October 8, 2019.

Clear distinction

ASIDE from the RPC, House Committee on Economic Affairs Chairperson Sharon S. Garin of AAMBIS-OWA said there is an outdated economic law that should be amended.

Garin said HB 78 aims to amend the antiquated Public Service Act (PSA) of 1936 by providing a clear distinction between public service and public utility.

Eliminating the ambiguity of the law will provide more economic opportunities to the Filipino people, according to Garin.

“We want foreign investments to supplement Filipino capital. Filipinos also need help to build big industries, big businesses, so we can improve the basic services for the Filipinos,” Garin explained, dispelling fears posed by the expected influx of foreign investors with the bill.

“Something can be done to improve our standing, and that is through the passage of the PSA. I do not believe that this will be a threat to our patrimony. I think this will improve the lives of all Filipinos,” she added.

Public utilities, as stated in Article 12, Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution, must be solely operated by firms that are 60 percent owned by Filipinos.

“However, the charter does not define [public utility]. Currently, our definition of public utility is the PSA and other jurisprudence issued by the Supreme Court,” Garin said. “So now we’re putting definition of the public utility.”

Services, utilities

HB 87 is currently under the period of sponsorship and debate.

The bill aims to amend the antiquated PSA by providing a clear distinction between public service and public utility. Under the bill, public utilities will only cover the following: distribution of electricity; transmission of electricity; water pipeline distribution system; and, sewerage pipeline system.

Herrera-Dy hopes there would be enough time in the first regular session of the 18th Congress to approve the amendments to the PSA, “which is the baseline law on public utilities and services.”

Asked if the Senate is moving to update the decades-old PSA, RPC, and other post-Second World War era laws, including the Transport and Traffic Code, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on January 7 that senators are still in the process of reviewing old laws, assessing the need to update or repeal them.

“We will still make an assessment soon,” the Senate leader told the BusinessMirror, even as he added that the PSA, which governs granting of franchises, “is now on second reading.”

Issues on TNVS

THE riding public’s interest is also on the table at both chambers.

Following the order of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) limiting the pool of motorcyclesfor-hire drivers per operator to just 10,000, Kabayan Rep. Ron Salo said Congress should now act on pending measures updating legal bases for regulating transport network companies (TNCs) and transportation network vehicles services (TNVS).

Salo said Congress should now act on the 1964 Land Transportation and Traffic Code and the 1949 Civil Code of the Philippines to address the issues on TNVS.

“We continue to have these public transport service problems and monopoly issues because our LTFRB, MMDA and LTO regulations are rooted in the 1964 LTTC [Land Transportation and Traffic Code] and the 1949 Civil Code of the Philippines,” Salo said.

According to the lawmaker, he already filed HB 3569, or an “Act Allowing and Regulating the Use of Motorcycle as Public Utility Vehicles, Amending for this Purpose RA 4136 of the LTTC.”

HB 3569, or the proposed Motorcycles-for-Hire-Act, amends the 1964 LTTC by legalizing motorcycles-for-hire.

According to Salo, HB 3569 updates “our archaic transportation laws and will uphold the welfare of all parties in controversies like the current one involving Angkas.”

New technologies

WITH HB 3569, Salo said the parameters, guidelines and principles for regulating transport network services and their TNCs are laid down, including aspects involving consumer protection and modern technologies.

Moreover, Herrera said the transport sector is slow to keep up with the fast-changing times because the laws governing this sector are old and now largely useless.

“I will appeal to the House leadership to certify as urgent the bill the House transportation committee will consolidate to legalize and regulate motorcycle TNVS and TNC operations,” Herrera said.

“Given that at least 100,000 Filipinos will be directly affected and hundreds of thousands of commuters will be served by Angkas and other motorcycle TNVS-TNCs, I believe that is a great reason for Congress to approve the bill before the summer recess, so that President Duterte can sign it in March,” the House deputy majority leader noted.

However, House Committee on Transportation Chairman Rep. Edgar Sarmiento said the LTFRB should consider public welfare first before making any decision regarding motorcycle taxis.

The lawmaker added that cutting the number of motorcycle taxis under Angkas will economically dislocate thousands of Angkas riders and would certainly deny commuters a well-tested alternative transport especially at a time when Metro Manila’s traffic is getting worse every day.

Transport sector

THE LTFRB earlier ordered to limit the number of motorcycle taxis operating in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas.

With this, Sarmiento said this decision will “economically dislocate” thousands of riders.

Sarmiento said the government should just maintain the status quo while allowing other players to come in.

The Department of Transportation and the LTFRB already announced the extension of the pilot implementation of motorcycle-ride hailing services in the country, which was scheduled to end last December 26. It also announced the inclusion of two new players: JoyRide and Move It.

These two motorcycle taxis will join Angkas in the extended pilot implementation which will run from December 23 to March 23, 2020. Also, the LTFRB said a 30,000 cap will be allotted for the three providers during the period.

Meanwhile, Sarmiento said that his committee will try to fast track deliberations of at least 15 pending House bills that are related to the operation of motorcycle taxis when session resumes on January 20.

“There are 15 House bills that are pending right now. Under RA 4136 only four-wheeled vehicles are allowed. This two-wheeled vehicle was not allowed [that’s why an] Executive Order [was issued] six months ago to allow some testing on motorcycle taxis,” Sarmiento said.

Efficiency, reduction

IN the Senate, among other bills lined up to replace the obsolete LTTC is Senate Bill (SB) 322 filed by Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara. SB 322 is a remedial legislation “promoting sustainable and alternative modes of transportation and other mobility options to improve air quality, increase efficiency, reduce congestion and contribute to positive health impacts in our society.”

An earlier SB 319 titled “Sustainable Transportation Act of 2019,” filed by Sen. Grace Poe, was also referred to the Committee of Public Services for review, similarly titled as an “Act Promoting Sustainable and Alternative Modes of Transportation.”

The Senate's Public Services Committee, chaired by Poe, was one of many parties that tackled the issues on ride-hailing motorbike taxis before the six-month trial was set and yet, critics noted, a “secretive” technical working group of the LTFRB solely decided on the post-trial regime of capping the number of riders during the second trial—this time, for three months—regardless of public need and demand.

Over the holidays, Poe wrote the LTFRB and said: “We look forward to your submission of the results of the pilot program and the recommendation of the Technical Working Group,” which will form part of lawmakers’ deliberations on pending bills to amend the transportation code.

Poe also affirmed that the remedial legislation legalizing motorcycle taxis is “a priority measure of the committee and will be tackled when the Senate resumes” next month.

Minority Leader Frank Drilon, in a text message to the BusinessMirror, agreed when asked if the Senate should move to fast-track legislation amending the National Transportation and Traffic Code

‘This year would be Congress’s “strongest push to reset some of our country’s oldest laws, including those on public utilities and transportation, which have caused much suffering among Filipinos.”

— Deputy Majority Leader Bernadette Herrera-Dy

in order to allow motorcycles as for-hire vehicles, given the LTFRB statement that after the second three-month trial for ride-hailing apps like Angkas lapses on March 23, motorbike taxis will cease to exist, being illegal.

Resilience ensured

THE Senate is also poised to frontload consideration and early passage of a remedial legislation updating the 42-year-old National Building Code (NBC) soon as Congress reconvenes regular sessions on January 20.

Emphasizing the need to ensure “safer and more disasterresilient” communities, first-term Sen. Christopher Go filed SB 1252, to be known as the Philippine Building Act, which was crafted to ensure the effective regulation of planning, design, construction, occupancy and maintenance of all public and private buildings and structures.

Go’s SB 1252, embodying the Philippine Building Act of 2019, seeks to safeguard the public welfare and mitigate the impact of disasters by proposing to provide all buildings and structures a framework of minimum standards and requirements in line with mainstreaming disaster risk reduction and management efforts, as well as regulate and control their location, siting, planning, design, construction, and maintenance.

In filing the remedial legislation, the senator stressed the need for such measure, after noting that many elements are lacking or need to be updated in the current building code due to the changing times.

The NBC of the Philippines took effect on February 19, 1977.

“It has been several decades since it became law,” Go said in Filipino. “Since then, we have learned a lot about building safety through advancements in science, as well as our experiences of disaster relief, such as the earthquake in Mindanao.”

Ensuring safety

GO added “it’s now time to study how to update the NBC” noting that some safety standards on fire safety and sanitation were not mentioned in the current NBC, “leaving several loopholes and ‘inadequacies’ that should be addressed.”

The senator added that it is noteworthy that although the current NBC has safety standards, such as fire safety and sanitation, disaster resiliency is not specifically mentioned in the code.

“Disaster resiliency is very important in our country because, with the exception of around 20 typhoons entering our country every year, our geographic location makes us vulnerable to other disasters, such as earthquakes, landslides, storm surges, and more.”

Go stressed that in order to effectively plug the loopholes, Congress needs to amend the existing law to “ensure that all buildings and structures in the country are built according to the principle of ‘building back better.’”

He clarified that “building back better” requires that in the reconstruction of damaged structures, due consideration shall be given to the possibility of the disaster repeating itself.

Go added the Senate will also require integration of disaster resilience measures into the making of rules and regulations, and reference standards for planning, design and reconstruction of new buildings and structures to be built.

Strong policy

PRECISELY in a move to ensure that the 40-year building code is suited up to respond to disasters given the series of deadly quakes in the last quarter of 2019, Sen. Panfilo Lacson filed a similar bill in late December, weeks after three deadly quakes rocked Mindanao.

The devastation and loss of life caused by recent calamities, such as the magnitude-6.9 earthquake that struck Davao del Sur last December 15, drove home the need to strengthen building safety standards in the Philippines, Lacson said. He stressed that point when he filed SB 1239 to help protect the public from the effects of natural and man-made disasters while giving the antiquated 1977 NBC a much-needed update.

“Experience tells us that there is an urgent need to strengthen the overall policy on how buildings and structures are built in the country. Not to mention the country’s geographical location along the boundary of major tectonic plates and at the center of the typhoon belt, coupled by its socially and economically vulnerable population, it becomes even more imperative to review our 4-decade-old NBC,” Lacson said in his bill.

Lacson’s bill is also pushing for a multi-sectoral effort, led by the Department of Public Works and Highways, to make buildings resilient to other calamities such as fires and cyclones as well.

SB 1239 aims to not just ensure the safety and welfare of the people but also “pave the way for responsible and sustainable nation building, establishing the Philippines as an exemplary model of world-class standards.”

Time to update

MEANWHILE, Misamis Oriental Rep. Juliette T. Uy said she is readying a bill outlining broad strokes and some details of how she wants the audit reforms done. Uy earlier called for a government auditing reform summit via House Resolution 194.

She said having a State Audit Code of the Philippines that is over 40 years old and “badly needs updating and upgrading is one of the key reasons government agencies’ hands are tied” when dealing with spending priorities.

“The State Audit Code we still have now is a presidential decree from way back 1978. In terms of technologies alone, much has changed since then, and so have many financial processes. It is time to update, upgrade, and make government auditing relevant and response to current and future realities of governance,” said Uy, who is a member of the House Committee on Revision of Laws.

The solon noted that the last major revision of the State Audit Code was through the Administrative Code of 1987, which is an executive order issued by then President Corazon Aquino when she possessed revolutionary lawmaking powers.

“1987 is 32 years ago. Again, many advances have taken place since then,” Uy said. “While many major laws have been amended and the accounting and auditing professions have been catching up with financial and economic changes worldwide, PD [Presidential Decree] 1445 and EO [Executive Order] 292 remain archaic.”