Policy objective and purpose
- The decree is enacted to discourage public indifference or apathy toward the apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.
- The decree aims to penalize acts that obstruct, frustrate, or tend to obstruct or frustrate the successful apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders.
Prohibited acts: obstruction, frustration, delay
- Section 1 requires the imposition of prision correctional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from PHP 1,000 to PHP 6,000, or both, on any person who knowingly or willfully obstructs, impedes, frustrates, or delays:
- the apprehension of suspects; and
- the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.
- Section 1 applies when the obstruction is committed by committing any of the following acts:
- preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting the commission of any offense or the identity of any offender/s through bribery, misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force, or threats;
- altering, destroying, suppressing, or concealing any paper, record, document, or object with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility as evidence in investigations or official proceedings in criminal cases, or to be used for such purposes;
- harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person the actor knows or has reasonable ground to believe or suspect has committed an offense under existing penal laws, in order to prevent the person’s arrest, prosecution, and conviction;
- publicly using a fictitious name to conceal a crime, evade prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or conceal true name and other personal circumstances for the same purposes;
- delaying the prosecution of criminal cases by obstructing the service of process or court orders or disturbing proceedings in the fiscal’s offices, in Tanodbayan, or in the courts;
- making, presenting, or using any record, document, paper, or object with knowledge of its falsity and intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation of or official proceedings in criminal cases;
- soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of abstaining from, discontinuing, or impeding the prosecution of a criminal offender;
- threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong upon the person, honor, or property or upon any immediate member or members of the person’s family, to prevent such person from appearing in the investigation or official proceedings in criminal cases, or imposing any condition—lawful or unlawful—to prevent appearance in such investigation or proceedings;
- giving false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent law enforcement agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or property of the victim;
- fabricating information from data gathered in confidence by investigating authorities for purposes of background information (and not for publication) and then publishing or disseminating it to mislead the investigator or the court.
Penalties and penalty rule for conflicts
- Section 1 sets the core penalty for obstruction: prision correctional in its maximum period, or a fine of PHP 1,000 to PHP 6,000, or both.
- Section 1 directs a penalty adjustment when overlap exists: if any listed act is penalized by any other law with a higher penalty, the higher penalty shall be imposed.
Enhanced consequence for public officials
- Section 2 requires that when any of the foregoing acts is committed by a public official or employee, the offender suffers—in addition to the penalties provided thereunder—perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
- Section 2 makes the disqualification a mandatory additional consequence triggered by the actor’s status as a public official or employee.
Key operative elements for liability
- Section 1 imposes liability only where the person acts knowingly or wilfully.
- Section 1 covers conduct that obstructs, impedes, frustrates, or delays:
- apprehension of suspects; and
- investigation and prosecution of criminal cases.
- Section 1 covers obstruction accomplished through specific qualifying acts enumerated in the decree.
- Section 1 makes the protective focus criminal justice operations, including witness participation, evidentiary integrity, lawful process, and prosecutorial and court proceedings.