Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ______ 
Introduced by Hon. MARVIN C. RILLO 
Representative, Fourth District, Quezon City 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The death of someone important to you – whether a spouse, child, or 
parent – brings about intense and very difficult emotions such as sadness, 
emptiness, numbness, guilt, or regret which results into a psychological and, in 
some cases, physical toll upon the bereaved. 
Hence, a person in grief and mourning may become unstable and be 
mentally drained which causes such person to not function well at work and 
society. Moreover, the impact on and response of the bereaved to the grief, differ 
from person to person, and are greatly influenced by his/her surrounding 
circumstances. 
Unfortunately, the demands of work and everyday life do not give 
mourners adequate time to cope with loss of a dearly beloved. Under the current 
set up, companies have the discretion on whether or not to provide a 
bereavement leave – the period of any such bereavement leave, if given, is 
likewise purely discretionary upon the management of their employers. Some 
will grant the bereaved with merely three (3) to five (5) days of leave from work - 
a terribly insufficient length of time to attend to the details of a wake and burial, 
much less to properly mourn a loss. More often, the time taken to mourn a loss 
is simply deducted from the leave benefits provided by a company, or, if there is 
no such leave benefits, with a corresponding salary deduction.  Others even face 
the threat of administrative sanctions such as admonition, suspension, or even 
dismissal from their employment, if they go on leave without permission from 
their respective employers to grief for the loss or even to just make the necessary 
arrangements to attend to the affairs of the family by the death of their dearly 
departed loved ones. 
This bill seeks to address this issue and improve the mental and physical 
health of people employed in both the public and the private sectors in case of 
death of loved ones by granting them a mandatory seven-day bereavement leave, 
with pay. In addition, this bill will ensure that there will be no diminution of 
existing benefits and threats to security of tenure, if bereavement leave will be 
availed of. 
On behalf of the people of the Fourth District of Quezon City, the approval 
of this Bill is earnestly sought. 
 MARVIN C. RILLO 
 Representative 
 4th District, Quezon City 
September 1, 2022
3:53 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ______ 
Introduced by REPRESENTATIVE MARVIN C. RILLO 
“AN ACT GRANTING BEREAVEMENT LEAVE OF SEVEN (7) 
DAYS WITH FULL PAY TO ALL EMPLOYEES IN THE PRIVATE 
AND PUBLIC SECTORS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES” 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representative of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Bereavement 
Leave Act of 2022”.  
SEC. 2. Declaration of State Policy. - The State affirms that the Filipino 
family is the foundation of the nation and recognizes that the death of an 
immediate family member bears a significant physical, emotional and 
psychological burden upon a family member.  A bereavement leave benefit 
system is hereby institutionalized to support employees in both the public and 
private sectors who have recently lost an immediate family member, and give 
their family time to mourn together and share the emotional and material burden 
in the interment of the departed. 
SEC. 3. Bereavement Leave. - Under this Act, employees in both the 
private and public sectors shall be entitled to a bereavement leave of seven (7) 
days with full pay following the death of an employee’s immediate family member 
in order to grieve, attend to and/or make arrangements for the funeral.  
SEC. 4. Immediate family members – Definition. – For the purpose of 
this Act, an immediate family member refers to the employee's spouse, biological 
or adoptive parent or child, full and half-blood brother or sister. 
SEC. 5. Non-Diminution of Benefits. – Nothing in this Act shall be 
construed to reduce existing benefits granted under existing law, decrees, 
executive orders, or any contract, agreement or policy between the employer and 
employee. 
SEC. 6. Security of Tenure. – Employees in the public and private sectors 
who avail of the bereavement leave provided under this Act shall be assured of 
security of tenure. Availment of the leave shall not be considered a misconduct 
or any form of unsatisfactory performance, nor can it be used as reason for 
demotion, suspension or termination from employment. 
SEC. 7. Penalties. - Any person, corporation, trust, firm, partnership, 
association, or entity found violating this act or the rules and regulations 
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promulgated thereunder shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Twenty-
thousand pesos (Php 20,000) or imprisonment of fifteen (15) days to one (1) 
month. 
 
If the violation is committed by a corporation, trust or firm, partnership, 
association or any other entity, the penalty of imprisonment shall be imposed on 
the entity's responsible officers, including but not limited to, the president, vice 
president, chief executive officer, general manager, managing director or partner 
directly responsible therefor. 
 
SEC. 8. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Department of 
Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC), for the 
private sector and public sector, respectively, shall issue the necessary rules and 
regulations of this act within thirty (30) days of its effectivity.  
 
SEC. 9. Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any part, section or 
provision of this Act is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining provisions 
not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.  
 
SEC. 10. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules, regulations 
and other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions 
of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. Republic Act No. 1161, 
as amended, is further amended accordingly.  
 
SEC. 11. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved. 
 
 
 
 
MARVIN C. RILLO 
    Representative 
     4th District, Quezon City