Upholding the Right to Life and Security of
10 Spouses and Daughters: Repealing Article
247 of the Revised Penal Code
POLICY BRIEF NO. 10
This policy brief provides the rationale for repealing Article 247 of the Revised Penal Code which exempts
a spouse/parent who inflicts serious harm or death upon the other spouse/minor daughter caught having
sexual intercourse with another person.
WHAT IS THE ISSUE? WHAT HAS BEEN OUR Any person who shall promote or facilitate the
RECENT EXPERIENCE/S WITH REGARDS TO prostitution of his wife or daughter, or shall
THE ISSUE? otherwise have consented to the infidelity of
the other spouse shall not be entitled to the
In some jurisdiction, there are the so-called laws in benefits of this article.”
defense of honor. Under such laws, husbands or
family members are exempted from criminal liability WHY IS THE ISSUE IMPORTANT?
for the murders or other forms of violence they
committed against their wives, daughters or sisters. Under the law, a spouse adjudged guilty of killing or
The rationale behind such laws is that women’s inflicting serious physical injuries on the other spouse
unacceptable sexual behavior besmirches family caught in the act of committing sexual intercourse with
honor.1 Honor-killing is a practice which has been another person shall only be penalized with destierro.
widely, if not universally condemned as it violates the In contrast to the penalties for parricide2 or serious
basic tenets of human and women’s rights. Yet, a physical injuries3, destierro only prohibits the convicted
somewhat similar law still exists in the current person from entering court-designated places or a
Revised Penal Code (RPC): specified radius of those places. Destierro is mere
banishment and, as held in a case, is intended more
“Art. 247. Death or physical injuries for the protection of the accused from retaliation of the
inflicted under exceptional family members of the deceased than a punishment.4
circumstances. — Any legally married On the other hand, if the physical injuries inflicted are
person who having surprised his spouse in less than serious, the offender is exempt from
the act of committing sexual intercourse with punishment.
another person, shall kill any of them or both
of them in the act or immediately thereafter, The law has been rationalized as follows: “(The) law,
or shall inflict upon them any serious physical when the circumstances provided by this article are
injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro. present, considers the spouse as acting in a justified
burst of passion.”5 While indeed, passion and
If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries obfuscation can legally be considered as a mitigating
of any other kind, he shall be exempt from circumstance which could lower the penalty by one
punishment. degree under other circumstances, Article 247
unreasonably provides a different appreciation of
These rules shall be applicable, under the passion in the context of family honor, such that it is
same circumstances, to parents with respect given much regard even at the expense of human
to their daughters under eighteen years of lives. This is evidenced by the fact that the convicted
age, and their seducer, while the daughters person is given absolution from the crime.
are living with their parents.
Any person who shall promote or facilitate
the prostitution of his wife or daughter, or 1
shall otherwise have consented to the
infidelity THE
UPHOLDING of RIGHT
the other spouse
OF LIFE shall not
AND SECURITY OF be
SPOUSES AND DAUGHTERS: REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF THE RPC
entitled to the benefits of this article.”takes a
toll on their mental and physical well-being.
UPHOLDING THE RIGHT OF LIFE AND SECURITY OF SPOUSES AND DAUGHTERS: REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF THE RPC
Constitution provides that “the State values the dignity
Technically speaking, the first paragraph of the law
applies to both the husband and the wife as the term of every human person and guarantees full respect for
used was “any legally married person”. Note, human rights.” Further, Article III, Section I provides
that, "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
however, that the said provision seems to have been
property without due process of law."
originally crafted in contemplation of a situation
where a man catches his wife in bed with another.
Section 12 of Republic Act 9710 or the Magna Carta of
This is seen from the consistent use of the terms “he”
or “his” when referring to the offender. At any rate, Women (MCW) provides for the amendment or repeal
said provision must not be countenanced because it of laws that are discriminatory to women which,
is a clear violation of human rights. A person’s anger among others, would include Article 247 of the RPC.
or extreme passion cannot be a license to inflict
With regards to the provision pertaining to daughters,
physical harm or death upon a spouse, even when
Republic Act No. 7610 or the Special Protection of
caught having sexual intercourse with another. There
is a law which criminalizes the act of sexual infidelity Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and
Discrimination Act mandates that, “The best interests
after all and it is even a ground for legal separation.
of children shall be the paramount consideration in all
By maintaining Article 247 in the RPC, we are
actions concerning them, whether undertaken by
effectively giving more importance to a person’s
public or private social welfare institutions, courts of
reputation, image and esteem than to actual lives of
law, administrative authorities, and legislative bodies…
people.
Every effort shall be exerted to promote the welfare of
children and enhance their opportunities for a useful
The third paragraph of Article 247 pertains to
and happy life.”
daughters under eighteen (18) years of age. This is
more problematic than the first two paragraphs for
WHAT ARE THE CONSIDERATIONS IN
two reasons:
ADDRESSING THIS ISSUE IN THE COUNTRY?
1. The law, which applies only to daughters and
not sons, blatantly discriminates against women Promoting women’s rights and gender equality
and reinforces the notion that female children
are treated as inferior to male children who are Repealing Article 247 of the RPC will help eliminate
given more freedom and importance in the discrimination against women, promote women’s
family. The law is clearly based on unfair rights and enhance the status of women in the
gender-based assumptions, such as: Philippine society. It will also uphold the right to life of
girl children.
Women should keep a particular sexual
conduct or should maintain certain moral Responding to International Commitments
standards;
Women are wards or property of the men or Repealing Article 247 responds to the Philippine
the parents; and Government’s State Obligation under the Convention
Women’s deviation from the sexual or on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
“moral” norm (the “good-bad woman” Against Women (CEDAW), particularly the State
dichotomy), excuses the parents, particularly obligation to repeal all discriminatory laws and
the fathers’ killing or injuring them.” practices, and provide effective mechanisms and
remedies where women can seek redress for rights
2. By allowing parents to inflict harm or to kill a violations of their rights.
minor daughter under the above-stated
“exceptional” circumstance, the law contradicts
It is also in response to the Convention of the Rights
the well-established principle of promoting the
of the Child, particularly the State obligation to put the
best interest of children at all times, embodied
best interests of the child as a primary consideration in
not only in our domestic laws but also in
all actions concerning children7, and to take all
international covenants to which we are a
appropriate measures to ensure that the child is
signatory.
protected against all forms of discrimination or
punishment on the basis of the status, activities,
WHAT ARE THE EXISTING LAWS OR POLICIES
expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child's parents,
RELATED TO THE ISSUE?
legal guardians, or family members8, and protect the
child from all forms of physical or mental violence,
Article II Section 11 of the 1987 Philippine
injury
Constitution provides
2
UPHOLDING THE RIGHT OF LIFE AND SECURITY OF SPOUSES AND DAUGHTERS: REPEALING ARTICLE 247 OF THE RPC
injury or abuse while in the care of parent(s), legal
guardian(s) or any other person.9
POLICY RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that Article 247 of the RPC be
repealed, consistent with the Constitutional provision
that “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or
property without due process of law.” The
circumstances referred to in Article 247 may be
treated as a possible mitigating circumstance that
would allow imposition of lesser penalty, but
definitely not absolute exemption.
CONCLUSION
The infliction of physical injuries and/or death upon a
person due to mere passion or emotions should not
find any place in our laws today. This is a clear
violation of human rights and must therefore not be
tolerated. Moreover, to essentially allow parents to
commit this crime against their minor daughter is to
discriminate against women who do not conform to
society’s conservative expectations of what her
sexual behavior should be. To maintain Article 247 in
the RPC is to blatantly disregard the various other
laws and international commitments that we have
which uphold human rights and the rights of women
and children.
It is hoped that our legislators will prioritize and favor
the immediate enactment of a law to repeal the
Article 247 of the RPC, in the interest of fulfilling their
mandate under the Constitution and the Magna
Carta of Women, as well as ensuring the best
interest of the child.
ENDNOTES
1 Santos, Aida F. et. al. Toward a Gender-Responsive
Legislation. National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women, 1999
2 Article 246, Revised Penal Code.
3 Article 263, Ibid.
4 People vs Araquel, G.R. No. L-12629, 09 December
1959.
5 People vs. Gonzales, 69 Phil 65
6 Santos, Aida F. et. al. Toward a Gender-Responsive
Legislation. National Commission on the Role of Filipino
Women, 1999
7 Article 3, Convention of the Rights of the Child.
8 Article 2, Ibid.
9 Article 19, Ibid.
