MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) The Philippines finally has an anti-torture law after 22 years.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, which criminalizes “torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo.

The new statute also stresses on the command responsibility of superiors over the acts committed by their subordinates.

A number of cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and harassment have been blamed on the police and the military, but families of victims have complained that no one has been prosecuted yet.

"This is a concrete demonstration of this administration's commitment to human rights," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said in a statement.

The measure took 22 years in Congress before it was passed. The ratified measure was sent to Malacañang on October 13.

Arroyo signed it into law on November 10.

Quezon province Representative Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III, chairman of the committee on human rights in the House of Representatives, said he hopes the law would help put a stop in "what seems to be a culture of impunity on human rights violations.”

Under the law, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will see through the implementation of the law and together with the Department of Justice and in consultation with human rights groups will draft the implementing rules of the said measure. The law gave the CHR initial funding for its implementation.

It also prescribed penalties ranging from arresto mayor to reclusion perpetua depending on the gravity of the acts committed.

The law defines torture as acts constituting physical torture such as systematic beating, food deprivation, electric shock, cigarette burning, rape, among others. Mental and psychological torture, meanwhile, refers to acts such as blindfolding, prolonged interrogation, maltreating a member or members of a person's family, and denial of sleep, among others.

Wars, political instability and other public emergencies could not be invoked as a justification for torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading forms of treatment or punishment, it said.

“Life imprisonment shall be meted on any person guilty of the following acts: torture resulting in the death of any person; torture resulting in mutilation; torture with rape and other forms of sexual abuse, when the victim has become insane, impotent, blind or maimed for life; and torture committed against children,” it further said.

Tañada urged the public and human rights groups to participate in the consultations and in the formulation of regulations for the effective implementation of the law and to help disseminate information on the provisions of the new anti-torture law.

He said that the new anti-torture law mandates the participation of human rights organizations in the formulation of rules such as those on rehabilitation of victims and the dissemination of information on the provisions of the measure.

Tanada also expressed optimism that before the end of the 14th Congress, additional bills such as the International Humanitarian Law and a bill creating a new charter for the Commission on Human Rights, will be passed into law.

The Philippines is a signatory to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.