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.
