Press Release
February 13, 2008

Senate approves measure decriminalizing vagrancy

The Senate has passed a bill decriminalizing vagrancy and amending article 202 of the Revised Penal Code.

Senate President Manny Villar said, "Discrimination against the poor has no place in a decent society. They deserve our support and not punishment for their predicament, which this measure seeks to address.

The said article defines vagrants as:

1. Any person having no apparent means of subsistence, who has the physical ability to work and who neglects to apply himself or herself to some lawful calling;

2. Any person found loitering about public or semi-public buildings or places or tramping or wandering about the country or the streets without visible means of support;

3. Any idle or dissolute person who lodges in houses of ill-fame, ruffians or pimps and those who habitually associate with prostitutes;

4. Any person who, not being included in the provisions of other articles of the (Revised Penal) Code, shall be found loitering in any inhabited or uninhabited place belonging to another without any lawful or justifiable purpose.

The bill deletes the stated portion of article 202, which in effect, removes penalties for vagrants.

The measure also provides for the dismissal of all pending cases of vagrancy upon its effectivity.

All persons serving sentence for vagrancy prior to the amendment shall also be immediately released, provided that they are not serving sentence or detained for any other offense or felony, according to the measure.

The measure was sponsored by Sens. Francis "Chiz" Escudero and Richard Gordon.

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