ANTI-PIRACY AND ANTI-HIGHWAY ROBBERY LAW

• Number: Presidential Decree No. 532
• Sections: 7

Preamble

WHEREAS, reports from law-enforcement agencies reveal that

lawless elements are still committing acts of depredations upon the

persons and properties of innocent and defenseless inhabitants who

travel from one place to another, thereby disturbing the peace, order

and tranquility of the nation and stunting the economic and social

progress of the people;

WHEREAS, such acts of depredations constitute either piracy

or highway robbery, brigandage which are among the highest forms of

lawlessness condemned by the penal statutes of all countries; and,

WHEREAS, it is imperative that said lawless elements be

discouraged from perpetrating such acts of depredations by imposing

heavy penalty on the offenders, with the end in view of eliminating all

obstacles to the economic, social, educational and community progress of

the people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the

Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution

and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972 and No.

1104, dated January 17, 1973 and General Order No. 1, dated September

22, 1972, do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the land the

following:

Section 1 Title.

SECTION 1. Title. — This Decree shall be known as

the Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of 1974.

Section 2 Definition of Terms.

SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. — The following terms

shall mean and be understood, as follows:

Philippine Waters. — It shall refer to all bodies of

water, such as but not limited to, seas, gulfs, bays around, between and

connecting each of the Islands of the Philippine Archipelago,

irrespective of its depth, breadth, length or dimension, and all other

waters belonging to the Philippines by historic or legal title,

including territorial sea, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and other

submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or

jurisdiction.

Vessel. — Any vessel or watercraft used for transport of

passengers and cargo from one place to another through Philippine

Waters. It shall include all kinds and types of vessels or boats used in

fishing.

Philippine Highway. — It shall refer to any

road, street, passage, highway and bridges or other parts thereof, or

railway or railroad within the Philippines used by persons, or

vehicles, or locomotives or trains for the movement or

circulation of persons or transportation of goods, articles, or property

or both.

Piracy. — Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel, or

the taking away of the whole or part thereof or Its cargo, equipment, or

the personal belongings of its complement or passengers, irrespective

of the value thereof, by means of violence against or intimidation of

persons or force upon things, committed by any person, including a

passenger or member of the complement of said vessel, in Philippine

waters, shall be considered as piracy. The offenders shall be

considered as pirates and punished as hereinafter provided.

Highway Robbery/Brigandage. — The seizure of any person

for ransom, extortion or other unlawful purposes, or the taking away of

the property of another by means of violence against or intimidation of

persons or force upon things of other unlawful means, committed by any

person on any Philippine Highway.

Section 3 Penalties.

SEC. 3. Penalties. — Any person who commits piracy or

highway robbery/brigandage as herein defined, shall, upon conviction by

competent court be punished by:

Piracy. — The penalty of reclusion temporal in

its medium and maximum periods shall be imposed. If physical injuries or

other crimes are committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the

penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed. If rape, murder

or homicide is committed as a result or on the occasion of piracy, or

when the offenders abandoned the victims without means of saving

themselves, or when the seizure is accomplished by firing upon or

boarding a vessel, the mandatory penalty of death shall be imposed.

Highway Robbery/Brigandage. — The penalty of reclusion

temporal in its minimum period shall be imposed. If physical

injuries or other crimes are committed during or on the occasion of the

commission of robbery or brigandage, the penalty of reclusion

temporal in its medium and maximum periods shall be imposed. If

kidnapping for ransom or extortion, or murder or homicide, or rape is

committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the penalty of death

shall be imposed.

Section 4 Aiding pirates or highway robbers/brigands or abetting piracy or highway robbery/brigandage.

SEC. 4. Aiding pirates or highway robbers/brigands or

abetting piracy or highway robbery/brigandage. — Any person who

knowingly and in any manner aids or protects pirates or highway

robbers/brigands, such as giving them information about the movement of

police or other peace officers of the government, or acquires or

receives property taken by such pirates or brigands or in any manner

derives any benefit therefrom; or any person who directly or indirectly

abets the commission of piracy or highway robbery or brigandage, shall

be considered as an accomplice of the principal offenders and be

punished in accordance with the Rules prescribed by the Revised Penal

Code.

It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts

provided in this Section has performed them knowingly, unless the

contrary is proven.

Section 5 Repealing clause.

SEC. 5. Repealing clause. —

Pertinent portions of Act No. 3815, otherwise known as the Revised Penal

Code; and all laws, decrees, or orders or instructions, or parts

thereof, insofar as they are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby

repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 6 Effectivity.

SEC. 6. Effectivity. — This Decree shall take

effect upon approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of August, in the

year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-four.

(Sgd.)

FERDINAND E. MARCOS

President of the Philippines

By the President:

(Sgd.)

ALEJANDRO MELCHOR

Executive Secretary