Marcos signs Chemical Weapons Prohibition Act into law
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (PHOTO: Official Facebook page of PCO)
MANILA, Philippines — A bill prohibiting the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons has been signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Republic Act No. 12174, otherwise known as the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Act, was signed on April 15 and uploaded to the Official Gazette on Friday.
The law conforms with the country’s obligations under the convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction — known as the “Chemical Weapons Convention” — of which the Philippines is a state party.
RA 12174 defines chemical weapons to one or a combination of the following:
- Toxic chemicals and their precursors, except when intended for purposes not prohibited under the Convention
- Munitions and devices signed to cause death or other harm through the release of toxic properties from chemicals
- Any equipment specifically designed to be used directly for the employment of munitions and devices
Meanwhile, the law prohibits the following:
- To develop, produce, acquire, stockpile, retain, use, transfer domestically or by cross-border movement, any chemical weapon
- To finance the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, use of transfer of chemical weapons
- To possess or transfer domestically or by cross-border movement directly or indirectly, precursors and scheduled chemical without a necessary license
- To assist, encourage, or induce a person to engage in any activity that is prohibited for a State party under the convention
- To use riot control agent as a method of warfare
In terms of penalties, the law states that any person who develops, produces, acquires, stockpiles, retains, transfers, or uses chemical weapons shall suffer the penalty of life imprisonment without the benefit of parole and a fine of not less than P2 million nor more than P5 million.
