Section 17.

There is hereby created an independent office called the Commission on Human Rights.

The Commission shall be composed of a Chairman and four Members who must be natural-born citizens of the Philippines and a majority of whom shall be members of the Bar. The term of office and other
qualifications and disabilities of the Members of the Commission shall provided by law. Until this Commission is constituted, the existing Presidential Committee on Human Rights shall continue to exercise its
present functions and powers.

The approved annual appropriations of the Commission shall be automatically and regularly released.

Section 18. The Commission on Human Rights shall have the following powers and functions:

Investigate, on its own or on complaint by any party, all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights;

Adopt its operational guidelines and rules of procedure, and cite for contempt for violations thereof in accordance with the Rules of Court;

Provide appropriate legal measures for the protection of human rights of all persons within the Philippines, as well as Filipinos residing abroad, and provide for preventive measures and legal aid services to the
underprivileged whose human rights have been violated or need protection;

Exercise visitatorial powers over jails, prisons, or detention facilities;

Establish a continuing program of research, education, and information to enhance respect for the primacy of human rights;

Recommend to the Congress effective measures to promote human rights and to provide for compensation to victims of violations of human rights, or their families;

Monitor the Philippine Government's compliance with international treaty obligations on human rights;

Grant immunity from prosecution to any person whose testimony or whose possession of documents or other evidence is necessary or convenient to determine the truth in any investigation conducted by it or
under its authority;

Request the assistance of any department, bureau, office, or agency in the performance of its functions;

Appoint its officers and employees in accordance with law; and

Perform such other duties and functions as may be provided by law.

Section 19. The Congress may provide for other cases of violations of human rights that should fall within the authority of the Commission, taking into account its recommendations.

Section 2. Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial Investigation; Duties of Public
Officers. –

(a) Any person arrested detained or under custodial investigation shall at all times be assisted by counsel.

(b) Any public officer or employee, or anyone acting under his order or his place, who arrests,
detains or investigates any person for the commission of an offense shall inform the latter, in a language
known to and understood by him, of his rights to remain silent and to have competent and independent
counsel, preferably of his own choice, who shall at all times be allowed to confer privately with the
person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation. If such person cannot afford the services of
his own counsel, he must be provided with a competent and independent counsel by the investigating
officer.lawphi1Ÿ
(c) The custodial investigation report shall be reduced to writing by the investigating officer,
provided that before such report is signed, or thumbmarked if the person arrested or detained does not
know how to read and write, it shall be read and adequately explained to him by his counsel or by the
assisting counsel provided by the investigating officer in the language or dialect known to such arrested
or detained person, otherwise, such investigation report shall be null and void and of no effect
whatsoever.

(d) Any extrajudicial confession made by a person arrested, detained or under custodial
investigation shall be in writing and signed by such person in the presence of his counsel or in the latter's
absence, upon a valid waiver, and in the presence of any of the parents, elder brothers and sisters, his
spouse, the municipal mayor, the municipal judge, district school supervisor, or priest or minister of the
gospel as chosen by him; otherwise, such extrajudicial confession shall be inadmissible as evidence in
any proceeding.

(e) Any waiver by a person arrested or detained under the provisions of Article 125 of the Revised
Penal Code, or under custodial investigation, shall be in writing and signed by such person in the
presence of his counsel; otherwise the waiver shall be null and void and of no effect.

(f) Any person arrested or detained or under custodial investigation shall be allowed visits by or
conferences with any member of his immediate family, or any medical doctor or priest or religious
minister chosen by him or by any member of his immediate family or by his counsel, or by any national
non-governmental organization duly accredited by the Commission on Human Rights of by any
international non-governmental organization duly accredited by the Office of the President. The person's
"immediate family" shall include his or her spouse, fiancé or fiancée, parent or child, brother or sister,
grandparent or grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, and guardian or ward.

As used in this Act, "custodial investigation" shall include the practice of issuing an "invitation" to a
person who is investigated in connection with an offense he is suspected to have committed, without
prejudice to the liability of the "inviting" officer for any violation of law.

EC. 8. Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC). - A Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) is
hereby created and attached to the Department of Justice and placed under its administrative
supervision. The JJWC shall be chaired by an undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development. It shall ensure the effective implementation of this Act and coordination among the
following agencies:

(a) Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC);

(b) Department of Education (DepEd);

(c) Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG);

(d) Public Attorney's Office (PAO);

(e) Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR);

(f) Parole and Probation Administration (PPA)

(g) National Bureau of Investigation (NBI);

(h) Philippine National Police (PNP);.

(i) Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP);

(i) Commission on Human Rights (CHR);

(k) Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA);

(l) National Youth Commission (NYC); and

(m) Other institutions focused on juvenile justice and intervention programs.

The JJWC shall be composed of representatives, whose ranks shall not be lower than director, to be
designated by the concerned heads of the following departments or agencies:

(a) Department of Justice (DOJ);

(b) Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD);

(c) Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC)

(d) Department of Education (DepEd);

(e) Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

(f) Commission on Human Rights (CHR);

(g) National Youth Commission (NYC); and

(h) Two (2) representatives from NGOs, one to be designated by the Secretary of Justice and the other to
be designated by the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development.

The JJWC shall convene within fifteen (15) days from the effectivity of this Act. The Secretary of Justice
and the Secretary of Social Welfare and Development shall determine the organizational structure and
staffing pattern of the JJWC.
The JJWC shall coordinate with the Office of the Court Administrator and the Philippine Judicial Academy
to ensure the realization of its mandate and the proper discharge of its duties and functions, as herein
provided.

SEC. 9. Duties and Functions of the JJWC. - The JJWC shall have the following duties and functions:

(a) To oversee the implementation of this Act;

(b) To advise the President on all matters and policies relating to juvenile justice and welfare;

(c) To assist the concerned agencies in the review and redrafting of existing policies/regulations or in the
formulation of new ones in line with the provisions of this Act;

(d) To periodically develop a comprehensive 3 to 5-year national juvenile intervention program, with the
participation of government agencies concerned, NGOs and youth organizations;

(e) To coordinate the implementation of the juvenile intervention programs and activities by national
government agencies and other activities which may have an important bearing on the success of the
entire national juvenile intervention program. All programs relating to juvenile justice and welfare shall
be adopted in consultation with the JJWC;

(f) To formulate and recommend policies and strategies in consultation with children for the prevention
of juvenile delinquency and the administration of justice, as well as for the treatment and rehabilitation
of the children in conflict with the law;

(g) To collect relevant information and conduct continuing research and support evaluations and studies
on all matters relating to juvenile justice and welfare, such as but not limited to:
(1) the performance and results achieved by juvenile intervention programs and by activities of the local
government units and other government agencies;

(2) the periodic trends, problems and causes of juvenile delinquency and crimes; and

(3) the particular needs of children in conflict with the law in custody.

The data gathered shall be used by the JJWC in the improvement of the administration of juvenile justice
and welfare system.

The JJWC shall set up a mechanism to ensure that children are involved in research and policy
development.

(h) Through duly designated persons and with the assistance of the agencies provided in the preceding
section, to conduct regular inspections in detention and rehabilitation facilities and to undertake spot
inspections on their own initiative in order to check compliance with the standards provided herein and
to make the necessary recommendations to appropriate agencies;

(i) To initiate and coordinate the conduct of trainings for the personnel of the agencies involved in the
administration of the juvenile justice and welfare system and the juvenile intervention program;

(j) To submit an annual report to the President on the implementation of this Act; and

(k) To perform such other functions as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 10. Policies and Procedures on Juvenile Justice and Welfare. - All government agencies enumerated
in Section 8 shall, with the assistance of the JJWC and within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act,
draft policies and procedures consistent with the standards set in the law. These policies and procedures
shall be modified accordingly in consultation with the JJWC upon the completion of the national juvenile
intervention program as provided under Section 9 (d).
SEC. 11. Child Rights Center (CRC). - The existing Child Rights Center of the Commission on Human Rights
shall ensure that the status, rights and interests of children are upheld in accordance with the
Constitution and international instruments on human rights. The CHR shall strengthen the monitoring of
government compliance of all treaty obligations, including the timely and regular submission of reports
before the treaty bodies, as well as the implementation and dissemination of recommendations and
conclusions by government agencies as well as NGOs and civil society.