Question & AnswerQ&A (Act No. 2071)
The main purpose of Act No. 2071 is to prohibit slavery, involuntary servitude, peonage, and the sale or purchase of human beings specifically in the Mountain Province and the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan, and to provide penalties for such acts.
Act No. 2071 applies to the Mountain Province and the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan.
The penalty for holding a person in slavery or involuntary servitude, or delivering such a person to another to be held in slavery or involuntary servitude, is imprisonment for not less than one year nor more than twenty years and a fine from five hundred pesos to five thousand pesos, at the discretion of the court.
Yes, the only exception is if the holding of a person in slavery or involuntary servitude is pursuant to the judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction or other lawful authority.
Section 2 prohibits compelling another person, against their will, to render labor or services as payment of a debt, and also punishes those who accept labor or services performed under such compulsion with knowledge of the coercion.
The penalty is imprisonment of not less than six months nor more than five years, or a fine of not less than one hundred pesos nor more than one thousand pesos, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Section 3 criminalizes the selling, bartering, buying, or causing to be sold, bartered, or bought any human being.
The penalties are imprisonment of not less than one year nor more than twenty years, or a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than ten thousand pesos, or both at the discretion of the court.
Lack of consent of a person under eighteen years of age is conclusively presumed, meaning that the court automatically assumes no consent is given by anyone under eighteen in such cases.
One-half of any fine collected shall be paid to the injured person, but such payment does not extinguish any civil action the injured person may have for damages.
No, payment of fines does not operate to extinguish in whole or in part any civil action the injured person may have for damages.
Peonage refers to compelling a person to render labor or services against their will to pay off a debt, which is prohibited and punishable under the Act.
Act No. 2071 was enacted by the Philippine Commission by authority of the United States on August 7, 1911.