QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 155)
Executive Order No. 155 amends Republic Act No. 857 to strengthen and make more meaningful an arrested person’s right to counsel, particularly against subtle and sophisticated denials by public officers or employees that obstruct or prevent counsel visitation and private conference during arrest.
Penalized acts include obstructing, prohibiting, or otherwise preventing an attorney entitled to practice in Philippine courts from visiting and conferring privately with a person arrested, when such visit and conference is requested by the arrested person or someone acting on his behalf, or by a duly accredited national/international NGO.
Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under his orders or in his place, who obstructs, prohibits, or otherwise prevents the attorney’s access to the arrested person and private conference.
The attorney’s visit and private conference may be requested at any hour of the day, or in urgent cases, of the night.
The request must be in ‘urgent cases,’ which are those requiring immediate counsel access during the night.
The arrested person may request it, or another may request it on the person’s behalf.
Yes. A national or international non-governmental organization duly accredited by the Office of the President may request the attorney’s visit and private conference.
It requires that counsel be allowed not only to visit but also to confer privately with the arrested person—meaning unauthorized interference or denial of private communication is within the prohibited acts.
Typically: (1) offender is a public officer/employee or one acting under his orders; (2) an attorney entitled to practice in Philippine courts exists; (3) the attorney requested to visit and confer privately with an arrested person; (4) the request came from the arrested person/authorized person/ duly accredited NGO; (5) the offender obstructed/prohibited/prevented the visitation or private conference; and (6) it occurred at the relevant time (any hour of day or urgent night).
The provision states punishment of ‘prision correccional’ (with the specific subordinate notation as printed in the text).
Yes. Section 2 provides that all laws, orders, issuances, rules, and regulations, or parts thereof, inconsistent with Executive Order No. 155 are repealed or modified accordingly.
It takes effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette.
To highlight that violations may not always be overt; the law is intended to cover nuanced methods of blocking counsel access during arrest, ensuring the right to counsel is actually meaningful.
It specifically protects counsel access during arrest by criminalizing interferences that prevent counsel visitation and private consultation, thereby operationalizing the constitutional right to counsel during custodial detention.