Press Release
February 13, 2008

SENATE DECRIMINALIZES VAGRANCY

There are no more vagrants in the society in as far as the Senate is concerned when it approved yesterday for third and final reading the bill decriminalizing vagrancy.

Senate Bill No. 1965, submitted jointly by the Committees on Justice and Human Rights and Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws was approved by the body for transmittal to the Lower House for consideration.

In decriminalizing vagrancy, the said bill does not anymore define vagrants as circumscribed by the existing anti-vagrancy law or Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code. In totally removing vagrants in the said provision, prostitution, however shall continue to be punishable.

Senator Chiz Escudero, Chairman of the Justice Committee and who authored the bill together with Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Richard Gordon and Loren Legarda said that the existing law on vagrancy fails to see that vagrants are victims of poverty and the lack of opportunities for employment and access to decent standards of living and quality of life.

"Vagrancy inflicts no harm to society, but if at all, very minimal compared to those grave offenses which cause damage to person, community and property. This should be addressed with treatment rather than with punishment," Escudero said.

The bill, Escudero said, provides equal protection to women, children and men as authorities cannot anymore recklessly and conveniently use vagrancy in arbitrary arrests.

"We see it all the time in the news, when authorities round up people and no definite charges can be made, vagrancy comes in handy. Cases of this nature have already piled up in our justice system. With SB No. 1965, we remedy two issues. One, we give a more humane countenance on our justice system, which prioritizes the rehabilitation of the offender and acknowledges the value of every human life. Two, we decongest the load of the justice system". By decriminalizing vagrancy, Escudero said law enforcement officers can already pay more attention to graver offenses and improve the administration of justice in the country.

Escudero said the senate is optimistic that their counterparts in Congress will approve the same bill once transmitted to the Lower House.

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