Poe bats for repeal of law permitting killing of spouse caught having sex

Senator Grace Poe has filed a bill seeking to repeal an "archaic" provision in the Revised Penal Code (RPC) allowing the killing of a spouse caught in the act of having an extramarital affair.

Senate Bill No. 1410 said such penal provision must not prevail in the country's justice system as it condones killing and disregard for due process.

Poe was referring to Article 247 of the RPC, which states that "Any legally married person who having surprised his spouse in the act of committing sexual intercourse with another person, shall kill any of them or both of them in the act or immediately thereafter, or shall inflict upon them any serious physical injury, shall suffer the penalty of destierro."

"If he shall inflict upon them physical injuries of any other kind, he shall be exempt from punishment," it added.

Poe pointed out that the penalty of destierro merely means banishment from court-designated places or a specified radius of those places.

She also underscored that the same law applies to "parents with respect to their daughters under 18 years of age, and their seducers, while the daughters are living with their parents."

“In this day and age, there must no longer be room for laws that discriminate against women and girls. Honor killing is a practice that has been widely condemned as it runs roughshod over due process and the basic tenets of human rights,” Poe said.

“Killing is killing. People should not be allowed to take the law into their own hands,” she added.

Keeping the said provision would compromise the welfare of women and children in the country.

“Huwag natin palusutin sa batas ang anumang pagyurak sa katauhan at karapatan ng ating mga kababaihan at kabataan," Poe said.

The crimes of sexual infidelity and seduction are already covered by other articles the Revised Penal Code and the Family Code, she added. —LDF, GMA News