Good Samaritan law

First Aid & CPR Philippines

The Good Samaritan: compassion and protection

Drawn from the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), the parable of the Good Samaritan tells of a traveller left for dead who is rescued by a stranger that tends to him and sees to his care. Beyond its religious context, it carries a universal message: the moral duty to help others in danger, through compassion and altruism.

Inspired by this principle, many so-called Good Samaritan laws have been enacted around the world to protect those who assist in good faith during an emergency from legal action. The exact scope of that protection, however, varies from one jurisdiction to another: here is what the law applicable to your region provides.

Statute citation

Governing act No stand-alone Good Samaritan statute granting immunity to rescuers. Conversely, the Revised Penal Code (Act No. 3815), art. 275, 'Abandonment of person in danger and abandonment of one's own victim', imposes a duty to render assistance. Republic Act No. 8344 separately obliges hospitals to treat emergencies. 'Good Samaritan Act' bills are pending in Congress but not enacted.
Scope of protection Civil-law-influenced system: art. 275 of the Revised Penal Code punishes anyone who fails to assist a person found wounded or in danger of dying in an uninhabited place, where they can do so without detriment to themselves; it also targets one who abandons a victim they have accidentally injured. There is, however, no statutory immunity for the rescuer: courts treat humanitarian intent as a mitigating circumstance.
Duty to rescue Yes
Penalty for failure to assist Art. 275 of the Revised Penal Code: penalty of arresto mayor (imprisonment of 1 month and 1 day to 6 months) for failing to assist a person wounded or in danger of dying in an uninhabited place, or for abandoning a victim one has accidentally injured.
AED liability protection No
Legal duty to rescue applies

Your protection under the law

The Philippines has no stand-alone Good Samaritan statute granting immunity to rescuers; its civil-law-influenced system stands out instead for article 275 of the Revised Penal Code, which imposes a duty to render assistance. No statutory immunity formally protects the responder, but the courts treat humanitarian intent as a mitigating circumstance. Good Samaritan Act bills are pending in Congress but have not been enacted to date.

Duty to rescue

Unlike most common-law countries, the Philippines recognises a genuine duty to rescue: article 275 of the Revised Penal Code punishes with arresto mayor anyone who fails to assist a person wounded or in danger of dying in an uninhabited place, where they can do so without risk to themselves, or who abandons a victim they have accidentally injured. This duty, limited but real, makes intervention not only a moral act but also something the law expects. Absent formal immunity, it is best to act competently and in good faith, two qualities that only training can secure.

Why training matters

In the Philippines, where the law itself expects you not to look away, knowing what to do is not a luxury but a responsibility. In cardiac arrest, every minute without resuscitation cuts the chance of survival by about 10%, and in an archipelago where help must sometimes cross sea and traffic, the bystander on the scene is the victim's first, and sometimes only, hope. Training in CPR and first aid teaches you to act with calm and competence: to compress, clear an airway, use a defibrillator and avoid worsening the person's condition. To get trained is to answer the call of duty with sure hands, and to turn good will into lives saved.