When the country’s Revised Penal Code was passed 81 years ago, it included crimes such as “robbery of cereals, fruits or firewood.†It allowed a husband to get off lightly with banishment or destierro if he caught his wife having sex with a lover and killed both of them. If the husband inflicted non-serious physical injury on either of the lovers, there was no punishment. The same penalties applied to parents who killed a “seducer†of their daughter younger than 18.
The RPC also listed “premature marriages†as a crime, imposing a prison term and a fine of P500 on a widow who remarried within 301 days from the death of her husband or while still pregnant with the child of the deceased. The RPC, which took effect on Jan. 1, 1932, also refers to the use of lithographs and telegraphs.
People may raise their eyebrows at these provisions, but much of the RPC remains intact, although a number of the provisions in the law have been amended, updated, or expanded to respond to new circumstances. New laws have been passed to deal comprehensively with crimes listed in the RPC, such as those on graft and corruption, prohibited drugs and domestic violence.
After 81 years, the RPC is ripe for an overhaul. The House of Representatives is preparing to do this, noting that many provisions of the law have become archaic, including sections on penalties and culpability. The public had an idea of how archaic it is when a prominent tour guide protesting the Catholic Church’s stance against the Reproductive Health bill was arrested and jailed for a crime listed in the RPC under Article 133 as “offending religious feelings.â€
While looking at the RPC, legislators can also review other laws passed decades ago. Laws must be dynamic, particularly in this age of fast-paced changes. Philippine law enforcement is weak partly because many of the laws that need to be enforced are no longer responsive to the times.