6.

4 Custodial Investigation
a. Duties of the Police during Custodial Investigation (RA 7438 sec. 2)
1) The arresting officer, or the investigator, as the case may be,
shall ensure that a person arrested, detained, or under custodial
investigation shall, at all times, be assisted by counsel, preferably
of his own choice;
2) The arresting officer, or the investigator, as the case may be,
must inform the person arrested, detained, or under custodial
investigation of the following rights under RA 7438 and RA 9745
in a language or dialect known to and understood by him/her,
that:
a) He/she has the right to remain silent. If he/she waives
his/her right to remain silent, anything he/she says can be
used as evidence against him/her in court;
b) He/she has the right to counsel of his/her own choice. If
he/she cannot afford one, he/she shall be provided with an
independent and competent counsel;
c) He/she has the right to demand a physical examination by
an independent and competent doctor of his/her own
choice, before and after interview/questioning. If the person
arrested is a female, she shall be attended to preferably by a
female doctor. If he/she cannot afford one, he/she shall be
provided with a competent and independent doctor to
conduct a physical examination;
d) The State shall endeavor to provide him/her with
psychological evaluation if available under the
circumstances (RA 9745 sec. 12).
 e) He/she, including his/her immediate family, has the right
to immediate access to proper and adequate medical
treatment; and
f) He/she has the right to be informed of such rights.
3) If the person arrested, detained, or under custodial
investigation opted to give a sworn statement (Annex “PP”), the
arresting officer, or the investigator, as the case may be, must
reduce it in writing and in the presence of his/her counsel.
4) The arresting officer must ensure that, before the sworn
statement is signed, or thumb marked, if there is an inability to
read and to write, the document shall be read and adequately
explained to the person arrested, detained, or under custodial
investigation by his/ her counsel of choice, or by the assisting
counsel provided to him/ her, in the language or dialect known to
him/her;
5) The arresting officer, or the investigator, as the case may be,
must ensure that any extrajudicial confession made by a person
arrested, detained, or under custodial investigation shall be:
a) In writing;
b) Signed by such person in the presence of his/her counsel;
or
c) In the latter’s absence, upon a valid waiver, and in the
presence of any of the parents, elder brothers, and sisters,
his/her spouse, the municipal mayor, the municipal judge,
district school supervisor, priest, imam or religious minister
chosen by him/her.
Failure of the arresting officer, or the investigator, to observe the
above-mentioned procedures shall render the extrajudicial
confession inadmissible as evidence in any proceeding; and
6) The arresting officer, or the investigator, as the case may be,
must, under established regulations, allow the person arrested,
detained, or under custodial investigation visits by or conferences
with any member of his/her immediate family, any medical
doctor, priest, imam or religious minister chosen by him/her or by
any member of his/her immediate family or by his/her counsel, or
by any local NGO duly accredited by the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) or by any international NGO duly accredited by the
Office of the President. His/her “immediate family” shall include
his/her spouse, parent or child, brother or sister, grandparent or
grandchild, uncle or aunt, nephew or niece, guardian or ward, and
fiancé or fiancée (RA 7438 sec. 2 f);