Asia
Philippines.
The Revised Penal Code (Act No. 3815) has an offense for failing to help a person found wounded or in danger of dying in an uninhabited place. Republic Act 9418, the Volunteer Act of 2007, sets a national policy of volunteerism, ties it to the tradition of bayanihan, and gives the PNVSCA agency coordinating duties. Republic Act 10932 penalizes hospitals that demand deposits or refuse emergency care.
Is there a legal duty to help a stranger?
LimitedArticle 275 of the Revised Penal Code punishes (arresto mayor) anyone who fails to render assistance to a person found in an uninhabited place wounded or in danger of dying, when help can be given without detriment to the helper, unless a more serious offense results. It also covers failing to help someone the person accidentally injured and failing to deliver an abandoned child under seven to authorities or family.
Are people who help protected?
None foundNo Philippine statute giving general good-faith protection to people who help strangers was found in the sources checked. Republic Act 10932, sometimes assumed to be one, amends Batas Pambansa 702 to bar hospitals and clinics from requiring deposits or refusing emergency care; it protects patients and does not shield rescuers.
How the government promotes giving and service
Ways to give and volunteer
Giving in the Philippines runs through a mix of local barangay and community groups, large foundations and the Philippine Red Cross, and churches run many local services. The one thing to know first: check whether a charity is certified before you donate.
Check a charity before you give
A nonprofit accreditor that certifies NGOs as meeting good-governance standards, so you can confirm an organization is on its list of certified groups.
Give your time
Give money, blood or a donation
In an emergency or a crisis
Before you act
- Fake disaster-relief appeals spread quickly on social media after typhoons and earthquakes, so give through an organization you can look up, not a personal account. Ask a local group for its registration and PCNC certification before donating. Foreign visitors should check immigration rules before doing paid or long-term volunteer work.
This list does not cover local barangay groups, faith-based charities or blood banks, which vary by city. Checked 2026-10-28. Listing an organization is not an endorsement, and none of them has endorsed this site. Some official sites block automatic checks, so a link may need a second try.
One thing worth knowing
The Volunteer Act names bayanihan, the communal-help tradition, in its declaration of policy as the model for volunteerism.
What this does not mean
Article 275 applies only in an 'uninhabited place' and only when help costs the helper nothing, so it is narrow. Lawphil is a private legal-text project, not a government site, and the official gazette site blocked automated access. The PNVSCA site could not be fetched, so current programs and any annual recognition events were not verified. Not legal advice. This is a plain-language summary of public sources, not legal advice, and it does not rank countries. No government named here has endorsed this site. Not reviewed by a lawyer. Statutes were read in public sources and may have changed. Last checked October 26, 2026.