Professional Documents
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support. Basically, these laws criminalized being homeless and jobless. States used vagrancy laws to arrest,
prosecute, and harass homeless people and poor people who were suspected of criminal activity or who were
considered undesirable.
unemployed
an alcoholic or a drug addict
a prostitute, or
homeless.
Under vagrancy laws, it was a crime to be any of these things, even if the person was not otherwise doing
anything illegal. Laws that prohibit being something, rather than doing something, are called status crimes. As
explained below, many courts have decided that status crimes, including some vagrancy laws, are problematic
and hence unenforceable.
Constitutional Problems
All laws must be constitutional. This simply means that no law can violate any of the provisions in the United
States Constitution. Many vagrancy laws have been struck down because they violated the constitution’s
prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment or were vague.
Vagueness
A law must also be written so than an ordinary person can determine exactly what acts are prohibited and what
people must do (or refrain from doing) in order to avoid criminal prosecution. Without clear guidelines for
conduct, ordinary folk, police officers, and judges have no way of knowing what constitutes a crime. This
uncertainty violates a person’s right to due process (fairness). Vagrancy laws, particularly laws prohibiting
loitering, have been challenged successfully in court on the basis that they are too vague. (Chicago v. Morales,
527 U.S. 41, 119 S. Ct. 1849, 144 L. Ed. 2d 67(1999).)
Disorderly Conduct and Public Intoxication
Beginning in the 1960s, in response to constitutional challenges, many states repealed their vagrancy statutes
and replaced them with laws prohibiting disorderly conduct, public intoxication, sleeping outside, and begging.
Critics charge that these newer laws replicate the problems of vagrancy laws and that states use them to unfairly
jail and harass poor people.
For more information on disorderly conduct and public intoxication, see our articles on Disorderly Conduct,
and Public Intoxication.
Punishment
Historically, vagrancy laws were misdemeanors. Today, disorderly conduct and public intoxication are
misdemeanors. Misdemeanors are crimes punishable by time in county or local jail (usually less than one year),
a fine, or probation. To learn more about misdemeanors, see our article Misdemeanor Crimes: Classes and
Penalties.
Vagrancy
The condition of an individual who is idle, has no visible means of support, and travels from place to place
without working.
At Common Law the term vagrant referred to a person who was idle, refused to work although capable of doing
so, and lived on the charity of others. Until the 1970s state vagrancy statutes were used by police to charge
persons who were suspected of criminal activity, but whose actions had not gone far enough to constitute a
criminal attempt. Court decisions, however, have struck down vagrancy laws as unconstitutionally vague. In
addition, the term vagrant has been replaced by Homeless Person as a way of describing a person who is
without means or a permanent home.
Traditionally, communities tended to regard vagrants with suspicion and view them either as beggars or as
persons likely to commit crimes. In England vagrants were whipped, branded, conscripted into military service,
or exiled to penal colonies. In colonial America vagrancy statutes were common. A person who wandered into a
town and did not find work was told to leave the community or face criminal prosecution.
After the U.S. Civil War, the defeated Southern states enacted Black Codes, sets of laws that sought to maintain
white control over the newly freed African American slaves. The concern that African Americans would leave
their communities and deplete the labor supply led to the inclusion of vagrancy laws in these codes.
Unemployed African Americans who had no permanent residence could be arrested and fined. Typically, the
person could not pay the fine and was therefore either sent for a term of labor with the county or hired out to a
private employer.
The abuse of vagrancy laws by the police throughout the United States was common. Such laws were vague and
undefined, allowing police to arrest persons merely on the suspicion they were about to do something illegal. In
1972 the U.S. Supreme Court addressed this problem in Papachristou v. Jacksonville, 405 U.S. 156, 92 S. Ct.
839, 31 L. Ed. 2d 110. The Court ruled that a Florida vagrancy statute was unconstitutional because it was too
vague to be understood. The Court emphasized that members of the public cannot avoid engaging in criminal
conduct, if prior to engaging in it, they cannot determine that the conduct is forbidden by law. The Court also
concluded that the vagrancy law's vagueness lent itself to Arbitrary enforcement: police, prosecutors, and juries
could enforce the law more stringently against one person than against another, even though the two individuals'
conduct was similar.
After Papachristou the validity of vagrancy statutes was put in doubt. Prosecutions for vagrancy must now be
tied to observable acts, such as public begging. Prosecutions are rare, however, because local governments do
not want to spend their financial resources incarcerating persons for such offenses.
Cross-references
Homeless Person; Void for Vagueness Doctrine.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
vagrancy
n. moving about without a means to support oneself, without a permanent home, and relying on begging. Until
recently it was a considered a minor crime (misdemeanor) in many states. Constitutionally it is evident that
being poor is not a crime. The same is true of "loitering."
Copyright © 1981-2005 by Gerald N. Hill and Kathleen T. Hill. All Right reserved.
vagrancy
noun evagation, hoboism, indolence, pererration, roaming, roving, shiftlessness, vagabondage, vagabondism,
wandering, wayfaring
Associated concepts: common-law vagrancy, loitering
Burton's Legal Thesaurus, 4E. Copyright © 2007 by William C. Burton. Used with permission of The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Metro Manila
Fifteenth Congress
Second Regular Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-fifth day of July, two thousand eleven.
[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10158 ]
AN ACT DECRIMINALIZING VAGRANCY, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLE 202 OF
ACT NO. 3815, AS AMENDED, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE REVISED PENAL CODE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code is hereby, amended to read as follows:
“Article 202. Prostitutes; Penalty. – For the purposes of this article, women who, for money or profit, habitually
indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct, are deemed to be prostitutes.
“Any person found guilty of any of the offenses covered by this article shall be punished by arresto menor or a
fine not exceeding 200 pesos, and in case of recidivism, by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision
correctional in its minimum period or a fine ranging from 200 to 2,000 pesos, or both, in the discretion of the
court.”
SEC. 2. Effect on Pending Cases. – All pending cases under the provisions of Article 202 of the Revised Penal
Code on Vagrancy prior to its amendment by this Act shall be dismissed upon effectivity of this Act.
SEC. 3. Immediate Release of Convicted Persons. – All persons serving sentence for violation of the provisions
of Article 202 of the Revised Penal Code on Vagrancy prior to its amendment by this Act shall be immediately
released upon effectivity of this Act: Provided, That they are not serving sentence or detained for any other
offense or felony.
SEC. 4. Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations and other
issuances, or any part thereof, inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, modified or amended accordingly.
SEC. 5. Effectivity Clause. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official
Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
(Sgd.) FELICIANO (Sgd.) JUAN PONCE
BELMONTE JR. ENRILE
Speaker of the House of President of the Senate
Representatives
This Act which is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 2726 and House Bill No. 4936 was finally passed by the
Senate and the House of Representatives on March 14, 2011 and January 30, 2012, respectively.
(Conclusion)
The brouhaha caused by the case of four women booked by operatives of the
Central Police District (CPD) for alleged prostitution has moved some
legislators from the House of Representatives to resurrect a bill
decriminalizing vagrancy.
That is a bit of good news. For in the din of angry words exchanged in the last
two weeks between Quezon City Rep. Michael Defensor and National Capital
Regional Police Office director Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay over the
case, the real issue might have been lost on most people, who, in this day and
age of multi-media, may not see beyond the clash of personalities what,
ultimately, is at stake.
A) Any person having no apparent means of subsistence, who has the physical
ability to work and who neglects to apply himself or herself to some lawful
calling;
Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1
D) Any person who, not being included in the provisions of other articles of
this Code, shall be found loitering in an inhabited or uninhabited place
belonging to another without any lawful or justifiable purpose;
E) Prostitutes;
The last paragraph defines "prostitutes" as "women who, for money or profit,
habitually indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct." First time
offense is punishable by imprisonment of between one to 30 days or a fine not
exceeding 200 pesos. Repeated offenses are punishable by imprisonment of
between two months to two years or a fine ranging from 200 to 2,000 pesos or
both, according to the discretion of the court.
The same law penalizes anyone who abets mendicancy by giving alms.
As early as 1924, Associate Justice Villamor, in his book, Crime and Moral
Education, noted that "such simple crimes as theft, swindling, and forgery, are
committed in the majority of cases by vagrants. And whenever the evidence in a
case would not warrant the conviction of the accused for theft, he is generally
charged for vagrancy."
Vagrancy laws are often called "dead letter" laws because they are hardly
enforced. When the police do enforce them, it is often because of less than
legal motivations. Women's groups complain that prostitutes are arrested for
vagrancy but pimps or proprietors of prostitution houses are not.
Law enforcers who "fish for evidence" against people suspected of crime find it
a useful "fallback" when they fail to gather enough evidence to prosecute
bigger crimes.
Observers note that vagrancy laws are an "improper exercise of the State's
police power" because police officers, always presumed to act in good faith,
have wide latitude in interpreting these laws. How does one, for example,
interpret "without visible means of support"? Philippine jurisprudence on this
matter is silent.
This simply means that a person accused of a crime has the right to know
exactly what he is being charged with.
The Philippine Law Journal notes that Art. 202 "is replete with phrases worded
in very general terms making the import of the law itself vague and
ambiguous."
Our vagrancy laws punish a person because he or she belongs to a certain class
or indulges in what is only seen as a socially contemptible habit, raising a
host of constitutional issues.
In simpler terms, the law punishes the poor simply because they are poor.
What is most surprising is that until now, the constitutionality of these laws
has not been raised in the Supreme Court, even if they go against
constitutional provisions that "no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or
property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal
protection of laws."
Perhaps, with the controversy attending the case of the four women booked by
police for vagrancy, it is time to re-examine the country's vagrancy laws and
see if they are still relevant to the times.
DSWD
Mission
"To provide social protection and promote the rights and welfare of the poor, vulnerable and the disadvantaged
individual, family and community to contribute to poverty alleviation and empowerment through SWD policies,
programs, projects and services implemented with or through LGUs, NGOs, POs, GOs and other members of
civil society."
DSWD Legal Bases
Provide a balanced approach to welfare whereby the needs and interest of the population are addressed
not only at the outbreak of crisis but more importantly at the stage that would inexorably lead to such
crisis.
- Executive Order No. 123
An Act to Regulate the Practice of Social Work and the Operation of Social Work Agencies in the
Philippines and for Other Purposes
- Republic Act No. 4373
Prevention and remedial programs and services for individuals, families and communities;
Protective, remedial and development welfare services for children and youth;
Vocational rehabilitation and related services for the physically handicapped, ex-convict and
individuals with special needs;
Training and research and special projects.
- Republic Act No. 5416
Consistent with local autonomy and decentralization, the provision for the delivery of basic services and
facilities shall be devolved from the National Government to provinces, cities, municipalities, and
barangays so that each Local Government Unit shall be responsible for a minimum set of services and
facilities in accordance with established national policies, guidelines and standard.
For purposes of this Rule, devolution shall mean the transfer of power and authority from the National
Government to LGUs to enable them to perform specific functions and responsibilities.
All NGAs shall conduct periodic consultations with appropriate LGUs, People s Organization, NGOs
and other concerned sectors of the community before any project or program is implemented in their
respective jurisdiction.
- Republic Act No. 7160
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5416
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5416 - AN ACT PROVIDING FOR COMPREHENSIVE SOCIAL SERVICES
FOR INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE, CREATING FOR THIS PURPOSE
A DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE
Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the Social Welfare Act of 1968.
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared that it is the responsibility of the Government to
provide a comprehensive program of social welfare services designed to ameliorate the living conditions of
distressed Filipinos particularly those who are handicapped by reason of poverty, youth, physical and mental
disability, illness and old age or who are victims of natural calamities including assistance to members of the
cultural minorities to facilitate their integration into the body politic.
Sec. 3. The Department of Social Welfare; its powers and duties. — There is hereby created a Department of
Social Welfare, hereafter referred to as the Department, which shall develop and implement a comprehensive
social welfare program consisting of (1) preventive and remedial programs and services for individuals,
families and communities; (2) protective, remedial and developmental welfare services for children and youth;
(3) vocational rehabilitation and related services for the physically handicapped, ex-convict and individuals
with special needs; and (4) training and research and special projects.
The Department shall have the following powers and duties, among others:
1. To develop, administer and implement such social service programs as may be needed to accomplish the
objectives of this Act;
2. To set standards and policies to insure effective implementation of public and private social welfare
programs;
3. To undertake research programs and studies on matters pertaining to family life, the welfare needs of
children and youth, the aged, the disabled and other individuals, or groups with special needs;
4. To initiate and administer pilot social welfare projects designed to suit local settings, problems and
situations for possible implementation on a nation-wide basis;
5. To credit institutions and organizations, public and private, engaged in social welfare activity including the
licensing of child caring and child placement institutions and provide consultative services thereto;
6. To license and regulate public solicitations and fund drives for charitable or civic purposes;
7. To provide consultative services and develop training programs for personnel, students and third country
participation;
8. To insure proper dissemination of information relative to social welfare programs and activities; to publish
and issue technical bulletins on social welfare programs;
9. To establish such regional, provincial, city and municipal branches and field offices of the Department
whenever and wherever it may be expedient or necessary, and to supervise such branches;
10. To coordinate government and voluntary efforts in social welfare work to avoid duplication, friction and
overlapping of responsibility in social services;
11. To establish, administer and maintain such facilities as child caring institutions and others, wherever and
whenever it may be deemed necessary to carry out the objectives of this Act; and
12. To establish such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
Sec. 4. The Secretary and the Undersecretaries; their qualifications and compensation. — The Department
shall be under the executive authority of a Secretary who shall be assisted by an Undersecretary for Program
and an Undersecretary for Operation and Administration.
The Secretary and the two undersecretaries shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the
consent of the Commission on Appointments.
The Secretary must have shown a demonstrated interest in social welfare and possess a working knowledge of
public administration.
No person shall be appointed Undersecretary for Program unless he is a holder of a master's degree in social
work, is duly registered to practice social work, and has at least seven years experience in the administration of
social service programs, preferably in a public agency.
No person shall be appointed Undersecretary for Operation and Administration unless he possesses a working
knowledge of public administration or social work and has at least seven years experience in administration of
social welfare programs: Provided, That these requirements shall not be applicable to persons holding the
position or detailed to discharge the duties of Deputy Administrator at the time of the enactment of this Act.
The Secretary and the Undersecretaries shall each receive an annual compensation at the rate fixed by law for
department secretaries and undersecretaries.
Sec. 5. Functions of the Undersecretaries. — The Undersecretary for Program shall have the following
functions, among others:
(a) To formulate the program of services of the Department on the basis of priority of needs and the
availability of resources to service these needs;
(b) To recommend to the Secretary such measures relating to social welfare programs as may be necessary to
carry out the policy declared in Section two hereof;
(d) To direct and supervise technical operations of the different bureaus of the department; and
The Undersecretary for Operation and Administration shall have the following functions, among others:
(c) To provide consultative and technical services in administrative and legal matters;
(d) To implement programs, special projects and services in the field, staff development and training
programs, conduct research, undertake the publication of researches, interpretative and teaching materials and
other social work literature and provide public information regarding activities of the Department; and
Sec. 6. Bureaus under the Department. — The Department shall have executive control and administrative
supervision over the Bureau of Family Welfare, Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare, Bureau of Vocational
Rehabilitation, Bureau of Field Services and Bureau of Training, Research and Special Projects.
Sec. 7. Functions of the different bureaus. — (a) Bureau of Family Welfare. — The Bureau of Family
Welfare shall have, among others, the following functions:
To formulate, administer, develop and implement social welfare services which will promote the social
adjustment of families, prevent family disorganization, develop social consciousness and civic responsibility.
Such services shall include among others family life, education programs, establishment of family welfare
centers and extension youth centers, of groups for self-help, groupwork and street-corner gang work with out-
of-school youth, pre-vocational and work training, income-producing projects and employment referral
services for handicapped adults and youth, programs for pre-school children of working mothers.
To formulate, administer, develop and implement family welfare programs to meet such problems of
individuals and families arising from the lack or loss of income or disturbances in family relationship; and to
perform such other functions as the Secretary may direct: Provided, That such functions shall not duplicate
those presently performed by other departments or other government agencies or instrumentalities.
(b) Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare. — The Bureau of Child and Youth Welfare shall have, among
others, the following functions:
To formulate, administer, develop and implement programs for the care, protection, training and rehabilitation
of children and youth such as the abused, abandoned, neglected, handicapped and delinquent with emphasis on
their preparation for participation in economically productive activities, initiate demonstration and
experimental projects and administer them for the exploration of improved techniques of social work with the
young adapted to local problems, situations, and culture; and to perform such other related functions as the
Secretary may direct.
(c) Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation. — The Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation shall have, among
others, the following functions:
To formulate, administer, develop and implement programs of vocational rehabilitation and related services to
disabled and physically handicapped persons and individuals with special need, and services including among
others social adjustment services, medical services, pre-vocational assessment and guidance services;
vocational training, selective placement and employment exchange services and sheltered workshop operations
with adequate revolving funds; administer national program of vocational rehabilitation centers and facilities to
meet the needs of disabled and physically handicapped persons and individuals with special needs including
negative Hansenites, released prisoners, alcoholics and drug addicts; initiate and develop vocational
rehabilitation programs in rehabilitation training centers; and to perform such other related functions as the
Secretary may direct: Provided, That vocational rehabilitation sheltered workshop shall be established in each
congressional district, the location of which shall be chosen by the Secretary of Social Welfare, upon
recommendation of the Director of Vocational Rehabilitation.
(d) Bureau of Field Services. — The Bureau of Field Services shall have, among others, the following
functions:
To administer, operate, direct, supervise, and coordinate all welfare functions of the regional offices subject to
direct authority from the Undersecretary for Operation and Administration; execute and implement approved
policies, regulations, and work plans and render administrative decisions on these matters within limits of
delegated authority; and maintain cooperative and harmonious relationship with other entities and agencies,
public and private, local, national or international, in the promotion of economic and social development and
welfare of the nation.
There shall be regional offices which shall carry out the functions thru the provincial, city and municipal
branch offices all to be located in the same provinces, cities or municipalities as presently fixed by law for
similar offices under the Social Welfare Administration.
(e) Bureau of Training, Research and Special Projects. — The Bureau of Training, Research and Special
Projects shall have, among others, the following functions:
To formulate, develop and implement programs or research, training and special projects; and to perform such
other functions as the Secretary may direct. The special projects will include the Central Institute for Training
and Relocation of Urban Squatters (CITRUS); disaster and emergency relief services and such other new
program which may be developed and assigned to it by Congress.
Sec. 8. Abolition of the Social Welfare Administration. — The Social Welfare Administration is hereby
abolished, and the personnel, records, documents, supplies, equipment, priorities and existing balance of
appropriations thereof are hereby transferred to the Department of Social Welfare: Provided, That no official or
employee, who has satisfactorily served the Administration shall suffer a loss of employment or a reduction of
salary or rank as a consequence of the abolition: And provided, finally, That nothing in this provision shall be
construed in any way to amend, repeal, alter, or modify the provision of Republic Acts Numbered Forty-three
hundred and seventy-three and Fifty-one hundred seventy-five.
Sec. 9. Authority to receive grants and make direct purchase. — The Department is hereby authorized to
receive grants, bequests, donations and trust funds made or given for the purpose of promoting or assisting
social welfare services. Such grants, bequests and donations so received shall be exempted from taxes.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding but limited to the maximum prices paid by the Bureau of
Supply Coordination and subject to the usual auditing and accounting rules and regulations, the Department of
Social Welfare is hereby authorized to procure directly such equipment, materials and supplies needed in the
implementation of all of the welfare programs pertinent and related thereto.
SECTION 10. Settlement and Revolving Fund. — The Department of Social Welfare is hereby authorized to
establish a Settlement and Revolving Fund. All income accruing from such projects shall form part of said
revolving fund, and that such shall be used exclusively for projects of bureaus concerned.
SECTION 11. Appropriation. — There is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the National Treasury not
otherwise appropriated, the sum of three million pesos in addition to the present appropriation of the Social
Welfare Administration, to carry out the purpose of this Act: Provided, That the sum should be utilized for
programs and services according to need: Provided, finally, That not more than fifteen per cent shall be used
for personnel services.
SECTION 12. Repealing Clause. — All laws, executive orders, administrative rules and regulations which
are contrary or inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
SECTION 13. Separability Clause. — If for any reason any section or provision of this Act shall be held to
be unconstitutional or invalid, no other section or provision of this Act shall be affected thereby.
SECTION 14. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect upon its approval.