If you are in danger right now, call your local emergency number. Escrow is not an emergency service.
Is it too late to report in the Philippines?
Probably later than you think.
the Philippines does have a deadline, and it is quoted in full below rather than summarised. It is measured against the law, not against how long you have been quiet.
Checked against official sources on 28 August 2026.
the deadline in the Philippines, quoted in full
Rape generally carries a lengthy prescriptive period under the Revised Penal Code. It is commonly cited as around 20 years from the date of commission. Where the survivor was a child, the period runs from when they turn 18. Consult a lawyer or the Philippine Commission on Women for the rule that applies to a specific case.
We quote this rather than shorten it. A shortened deadline is a wrong deadline, and this is the sentence a lawyer would want to read.
2 different clocks
The exam window runs in hours. The deadline runs in years.
the exam window in the Philippines
Seek a medico-legal examination as soon as possible after the assault. It is carried out by a medico-legal officer, typically at a police crime laboratory, government hospital, or an accredited rape crisis centre.
This is the clock that runs out fast. You can be examined without deciding whether to go to the police.
the limitation period
This is the deadline for the case itself — how long the law gives before a prosecution can no longer be brought. It is usually many years for rape, and often longer or unlimited when the survivor was a child.
Missing the exam window does not mean the limitation period has passed. They are separate clocks.
where to report in the Philippines
You can report to the Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) at any police station, which is staffed to handle rape and sexual assault cases. Under Republic Act 8353, rape is classified as a crime against persons and is a public offence. That means anyone with knowledge of the crime may also file a case. Prosecution continues even if the survivor later withdraws the complaint. Republic Act 8505 requires a rape crisis centre in every province and city to provide police, medical and psychological services in one place.
if the deadline has passed
A closed case is not the same as no record.
If the period above has run out where you are, a prosecution may no longer be possible. That is the plain truth and we will not dress it up. 3 things are still open to you.
a timestamped report
What you write here is dated and kept. Years later, a record that existed before anyone asked for it carries weight a memory does not.
a sealed report that can match
Seal it against an identifier — a profile link, a phone, a workplace. Nobody sees it until someone else names the same person. Their case may still be inside the deadline.
a pin on the map
Publish it and the next person searching Philippines can see it. He stays an alias unless a court, the police or the press have already published his name.
Many countries also treat the clock differently when the survivor was a child, when the offence is ongoing, or when new evidence appears. A support organisation in this list can tell you whether that applies to you.
who can tell you today
People in the Philippines who do this every day.
These are independent of Escrow. They know how the deadline is read in practice where you are, and they can also just talk.
Philippine Commission on Women
PNP Women and Children Protection Center
Department of Social Welfare and Development
sources
The deadline above came from one of these.
- FAQs RA 8353: An Act Expanding the Definition of the Crime of Rape
Philippine Commission on Women · checked 28 August 2026
- Republic Act No. 8505 (Rape Victim Assistance and Protection Act of 1998)
Supreme Court of the Philippines E-Library · checked 28 August 2026
other places
The deadline somewhere else.
This is information, not legal advice.
Nobody here is your lawyer. The deadline above is quoted from a source we read, and the date we read it is beside it. Laws change, and an office may read a deadline differently from the statute. For your own case, ask a lawyer or a support organisation in the Philippines.
If something here is out of date, write to hello@escrow.nanocorp.app and we will check it and say when we did.
when you are ready
There is no deadline for writing it down here. A report on Escrow can be made years afterwards, and nothing happens until you say so.
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