VNA:rgs:emr 
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.   ________ 
Introduced by  
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 
AN ACT 
RECOGNIZING 
THE 
CIVIL 
PARTNERSHIP 
OF 
COUPLES, 
PROVIDING FOR THEIR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Section 1, Article III of the 1987 Constitution provides: 
“Section 1. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property 
without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal 
protection of the laws.” 
While there has been greater acceptance of minority groups in recent 
years, it is notable, however, that the Philippines has not made sufficient 
strides in providing some of the most basic civil rights to couples who are 
not eligible for marriage under the law. A large part of this affected 
population is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) 
community. By reason of their sexual orientation and who they love, they 
are excluded from entering into legally recognized and protected unions. 
This exclusion exacerbates the reality that most, if not all, of these 
couples confront. For example, they cannot declare their partners as 
beneficiaries under social security and insurance plans. Further, they are 
unable to inherit through intestate rights in the event of the death of their 
partner. These restrict basic liberties that are available to most citizens, 
January 16, 2023
3:03 pm
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despite these couples taking part in loving, committed, and long-term 
relationships. 
This bill, recognizing the Constitutional right of all Filipinos to equal 
protection of the laws and to freely associate with others, hereby proposes 
to allow couples to enter into a civil partnership, whether they are of the 
opposite or of the same sex. It aims to be a landmark effort to provide civil 
rights, benefits, and responsibilities to couples, previously unable to 
marry, by giving them due recognition and protection from the State. 
Lastly, it protects civil partnership couples by penalizing unlawful and 
discriminatory practices committed by persons or institutions against 
them on the basis of their civil partnership status. 
Ultimately, at the core of a civil partnership are two fully consenting 
adults who, like many Filipinos, merely wish to love, care, and support 
each other as they build a life together during their fleeting time here on 
earth. It is about time that the Philippine government grant couples, 
whether they are of the opposite or of the same sex, adequate legal 
instruments to recognize their partnerships, respecting their dignity and 
recognizing their equality before the law. 
This bill was filed on October 10, 2017 in the 17th Congress and 
docketed as House Bill No. 6595. It was referred to the Committee on 
Women and Gender Equality and underwent committee deliberations, 
but it did not advance to the Third Reading. The bill was again refiled on 
July 17, 2019 in the 18th Congress and was docketed as House Bill No. 2264. 
The bill was primarily referred to the Committee on Women and Gender 
Equality, and referred again to the Committee on Population and Family 
Relations. As it was in the 17th Congress, said bill unfortunately did not 
advance to the Second Reading. 
The version of the bill that was filed in the 17th and 18th Congress is 
herein refiled, and its passage is earnestly sought. 
PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 


Page 1 of 14 
Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Constitution Hills, Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO.   ________ 
Introduced by 
REPRESENTATIVE PANTALEON D. ALVAREZ 
AN ACT 
RECOGNIZING 
THE 
CIVIL 
PARTNERSHIP 
OF 
COUPLES, 
PROVIDING FOR THEIR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Civil 
Partnership Act.” 
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the policy of the State to value the 
dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights. 
Towards this end, the State shall give full support to the welfare and well-
being of couples, of either the opposite or same sex, who are in a relationship 
and are denied their rights and obligations on account of absence of legal 
provisions that recognize their relationship and amply provide for their 
protection. 
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act: 
(a) Civil partnership refers to a legal relationship between two persons,
of either the same or opposite sex, established pursuant to this Act;
(b) Civil partnership couple refers to individuals who formally enter into
a civil partnership in accordance with the provisions of this Act;
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Page 2 of 14 
(c) Civil partnership license refers to a document issued by the local civil
registrar of the city or municipality that allows the contracting
parties, of either the same or opposite sex, and are habitually
residing together, to legally enter into a civil partnership;
(d) Civil partnership certificate refers to a document that certifies that the
persons named on the certificate have established a civil
partnership in compliance with this Act;
(e) Pre-civil partnership agreement refers to an agreement pertaining to
the property regime between prospective partners in a civil
partnership made in contemplation of establishing a civil
partnership; and
(f) Property refers to an interest, present or future, legal or equitable,
vested or contingent, in real or personal property, including income
and earnings.
SEC. 4. Recognition of Civil Partnership. – Any person who complies 
with the requirements herein provided, shall be allowed to register and enter 
into a civil partnership, and shall be bound by the obligations and 
responsibilities and enjoy the protections and benefits afforded by this Act. 
The rights of civil partnership couples shall be recognized and respected. 
SEC. 5. Requisites of Civil Partnership.  – No civil partnership shall be 
valid unless the following requirements are present: 
(a) Legal capacity of the contracting parties. For purposes of this Act, there
is legal capacity if the parties: 
1) Are at least eighteen (18) years of age;
2) Are not prohibited to enter into civil partnership by reason of
public policy, based on the grounds enumerated under Articles 37 and 
38 of Executive Order No. 209, as amended, otherwise known as the 
“Family Code of the Philippines;” and 


Page 3 of 14 
3) Are free from any previous bond of marriage or civil 
partnership; 
 
(b) Sharing a common domicile for a minimum of two (2) 
uninterrupted years at the time when the civil partnership license is applied 
for as supported by competent evidence; 
 
(c) The relationship is publicly known; 
 
(d) Consent freely given in the presence of the administering officer; 
 
(e) Authority of the administering officer; 
 
(g) A valid partnership license to contract a civil partnership issued by 
and obtained from the local civil registrar of the city or municipality 
where either party habitually resides; and 
 
(h) A civil partnership ceremony which takes place with the personal 
appearance of the contracting parties before the administering 
officer and their personal declaration, as proof of consent freely 
given, that they take each other as legal partners in the presence of 
not less than two (2) witnesses. No specific religious rite or form 
shall be required for purposes of this requirement. 
 
The absence of any of the requisites mentioned in this section shall 
render the civil partnership void ab ibnitio. A defect in the requirements 
provided under paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) shall be a ground for the 
annulment of the civil partnership. However, a defect in paragraphs (e), (f), 
and (g) shall be deemed a mere irregularity, which shall not affect the validity 
of the civil partnership but the persons responsible for the commission of the 
irregularity shall be civilly, criminally, and administratively liable. 
 
SEC. 6. Administering Officers; Religious Freedom. - The persons lawfully 
authorized to solemnize marriage under Article 7 of the Family Code of the 
Philippines, as amended, shall likewise be authorized to administer the civil 
partnership ceremony. 


Page 4 of 14 
Nothing in this Act shall interfere with or regulate the religious 
practice of any religious body. Any priest, rabbi, imam or minister of any 
church, sect, or religious body is free to choose whether or not to administer 
or officiate a civil partnership ceremony. 
 
SEC. 7. Civil Partnership License and Certificate. - The requirements for 
and prohibitions relative to, as well as the procedures in the issuance of a 
valid marriage license and certificate provided for under Articles 9 to 23 and 
Articles 27 to 34 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended, shall 
likewise be applicable in the issuance of a civil partnership license and 
certificate. 
 
SEC. 8. Default Property Regime. - In the absence of a pre-civil 
partnership agreement or when the regime agreed upon is void, the regime 
of total separation of property shall govern. The properties acquired by civil 
partnership couples while they live together shall be presumed, unless 
proven otherwise, to have been obtained through their joint efforts, work and 
industry, and shall be governed by the rules on co- ownership, unless 
otherwise provided for in the pre-civil partnership agreement. 
 
SEC. 9. Pre-Civil Partnership Agreement. - Civil partnership couples 
may, within the limits provided for by this Act, fix their property relations 
by executing a pre-civil partnership agreement which shall be in writing, 
with a statement of assets annexed thereto, signed by both parties, and 
contained in a public instrument. 
Civil partnership couples may choose between the system of absolute 
community of property, conjugal partnership of gains, separation of 
property, whether total or partial, or any other regime, as provided for in the 
Family Code of the Philippines, as amended. Such regime shall govern their 
right to own, dispose of, possess, administer and enjoy properties, subject to 
modifications, which are not contrary to law, morals, good custom, public 
order, or public policy, given the nature of their partnership. 
Any stipulation or agreement that is inimical to the interest of the civil 
partnership relative to sustenance and support for medical treatment, 
dwelling, food, clothing, and other needs of the couple, or adversely affects 
the right of children to receive support, shall automatically be declared void. 
Stipulations which are not contrary to law, morals, good custom, public 
order, or public policy shall not be invalidated and shall remain effective. 


Page 5 of 14 
A pre-civil partnership agreement becomes effective upon the 
establishment of a civil partnership. 
 
SEC. 10.  Amendment or Revocation of Pre-Civil Partnership Agreement. – 
Upon the establishment of a civil partnership, a pre-civil partnership 
agreement may be amended or revoked only by a duly notarized written 
agreement, freely and consensually entered into, signed by the parties and 
approved by the court. The court’s role is to ensure that the amendment or 
revocation of the property regime is consensual. 
The burden of proof to set aside a pre-civil partnership agreement shall 
be upon the party alleging the agreement to be unenforceable. A pre-civil 
partnership agreement shall be unenforceable if the party seeking to set the 
same aside proves, by clear and convincing evidence, that: 
(a) The party executed the agreement involuntarily; or 
 
(b) The agreement was unconscionable at the time enforcement was 
sought; or 
 
 
(c) The party, before execution of the agreement, failed to: 
(1) Provide full and fair disclosure of the earnings, property, and 
financial obligations of the other party; 
 
(2) Voluntarily and expressly waive, in writing, any right to 
disclosure of the property or financial obligations of the other 
party beyond the disclosure provided; 
 
(3) Have, or reasonably have had, an adequate knowledge of the 
property or financial obligations of the other party; or 
 
(4) Consult with independent legal counsel and voluntarily and 
expressly waive, in writing, the opportunity to consult with 
independent legal counsel. 
 


Page 6 of 14 
(d) In case of disagreement and the parties cannot settle the issue of 
unconscionability of a pre-civil partnership agreement, the issue shall be 
determined by the court. 
 
If a civil partnership is declared void, an agreement that is otherwise a 
pre-civil partnership agreement shall be enforced only to the extent 
necessary to avoid an inequitable result. 
 
SEC. 11. Benefits and Protections of Civil Partnership. - Civil partnership 
couples shall be afforded the following benefits, protections and 
responsibilities: 
(a) All benefits and protections as are granted to spouses in a marriage 
under existing laws, administrative orders, court rulings, or those 
derived as a matter of public policy, or any other source of civil law; 
 
(b) Laws of marital relations, including donations by reason of 
marriage, legal separation, adoption, child custody and support, 
property division and maintenance, and spousal support, shall 
apply to civil partnership couples; 
 
 
(c) Rights of civil partnership couples with respect to a child of whom 
both become the parents of during the terms of the civil 
partnership, shall be the same as those of a married couple with 
respect to their child; 
 
(d) All contracts made between persons in contemplation of a civil 
partnership shall remain in full force after such civil partnership 
takes place; 
 
(e) A certified true copy of the record of the civil partnership from the 
local civil registrar having custody of the record shall be 
presumptive evidence of the civil partnership for all legal purposes; 
 
(f) Laws relating to interstate succession, survivorship, or other 
incidents of the acquisition, ownership or transfer, inter vivos or at 
death, of real or personal property, as affecting parties to a 
marriage, shall likewise be applicable to civil partnership couples; 
 


Page 7 of 14 
 
(g) Causes of action related to or depended upon spousal status, 
including torts or actions under contracts reciting, related to, or 
dependent upon spousal status may be availed of by civil 
partnership couples; 
 
(h) Civil partnership couples shall automatically have insurable 
interest over their respective partners and may avail of benefits 
relating to insurance, health, and pension benefits provided to 
married couples; 
 
(i) Labor standard benefits and privileges accorded to employees 
based on marital status shall likewise be accorded to employees 
who entered into a civil partnership; 
 
(j) Benefits under tax laws relating to marital status shall be applicable 
to civil partnership couples; and 
 
(k) Civil partnership couples are covered by laws relating to immunity     
from being compelled to testify against the other and bound by the 
marital communication privilege. 
 
SEC. 12. Obligations of Civil Partnership Couples. - Civil partnership 
couples legally owe each other respect, fidelity, support, and assistance. They 
are bound to live together and are jointly responsible in the management of 
their household; exercise of parental authority, if applicable; the contribution 
towards expenses; the maintenance of the civil partnership residence; and 
other duties which married couples are jointly responsible for. 
Civil partnership couples shall have the same obligations with respect 
to a child of whom both become the parents of during the terms of the civil 
partnership, as those of a married couple with respect to their child as 
provided for in existing laws. 
Infidelity by either of the partners in a civil partnership shall be 
punished under this Act. For purposes of this Act, infidelity is committed by 
any partner who shall have sexual relations with a man or woman who is not 
his or her civil partner. Further, infidelity shall also be committed by a man 
or woman who has sexual relations with a person whom the offender knows 
to be in a civil partnership, even if the civil partnership be subsequently 
declared void. 


Page 8 of 14 
 
SEC. 13. Inheritance Rights. - For purposes of inheritance rights, a 
partner in a civil partnership shall be considered a compulsory heir of the 
other, who shall have the same rights and benefits accorded to a husband or 
wife in Republic Act No. 386, otherwise known as the “Civil Code of the 
Philippines,” as amended, the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended, 
and Republic Act No. 8552, also known as the “Domestic Adoption Act of 
1998.” There is a presumption that co-ownership exists, unless otherwise 
proven, for properties acquired by the civil partnership couple during the 
civil partnership. The surviving partner, upon the death of another, is 
entitled to one-half of the co-owned properties. The other half constitutes the 
estate of the decedent for disposition and liquidation. 
 
SEC. 14. Adoption Rights. - Civil partnership couples residing in the 
Philippines who have the qualifications and none of the disqualifications 
may adopt if the requirements for a valid adoption, as provided under 
existing laws, are complied with. 
If the adopting civil partnership couple be of the same sex, this fact 
alone shall not be considered as proof of bad moral character. 
Civil partnership couples shall be allowed to legally adopt only when 
there are no married couples willing to adopt the child or if the child is that 
of one of the contracting parties in a civil partnership. 
The best interest and welfare of the child shall always be the 
paramount consideration in deciding matters concerning the adoption of a 
child by civil partnership couples. 
 
SEC. 15. Social Security and Insurance Membership. - Civil partnership 
couples shall have the same rights and privileges as that granted to married 
couples with regard to application for social security and other insurance 
membership and claiming entitlement to their benefits. The Social Security 
System, Government Service Insurance System, Philippine Health Insurance 
Corporation and other benefits-related state agencies shall restructure their 
benefits system to accommodate parties to civil partnerships and their 
corresponding dependents. 
 
SEC. 16. Dissolution of Civil Partnership. - The procedures and grounds 
for legal separation, annulment and declaration of nullity of marriages under 
the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended, shall be applicable in civil 


Page 9 of 14 
partnerships. Further, the attempt against the life of the partner shall also be 
a ground for dissolution of the civil partnership. 
Parties may, through a verified joint petition filed before the 
appropriate regional trial court, move for the consensual termination of their 
civil partnership. The petition must include a joint plan for parenthood over 
common children, if any. The joint plan must provide for the support and 
living arrangements of the common children. The court shall ensure its 
enforcement and shall review the plan on an annual basis or as often as 
possible, in case the need arises. An action for joint petition for the 
termination of a civil partnership shall not be tried before six (6) months have 
elapsed since the filing of the petition. If the court determines that the consent 
of both parties was freely given and that the joint plan for parenthood is 
sufficient to protect the rights and interests of the common children, the court 
shall grant the joint petition. 
 
SEC. 17. Protection of Children in Case of Dissolution of Civil Partnership. 
- To protect the rights and interests of children in the event of dissolution of 
the civil partnership, the court shall consider the following factors in so far 
as support for children, if applicable, is concerned: 
 
(a) Needs of the child; 
 
(b) Standard of living and economic circumstances of each parent; 
 
(c) All sources of income and assets of each parent; 
 
(d) Earning ability of each parent, including education background, 
training, 
employment 
skills, 
work 
experience, 
custodial 
responsibility for children including the cost of providing child 
care and the length of time and cost of each parent to obtain 
training or experience for appropriate employment; 
 
(e) Need and capacity of the child for education, including higher 
education; 
(f) Age and health of the child and each parent; 
 


Page 10 of 14 
(g) Income, assets and earning ability of the child; 
 
(h) Responsibility of the parents for the court-ordered support of 
others; 
 
(i) Reasonable debts and liabilities of each child and parent; and 
 
(j) Any other factors the court may deem relevant. 
 
The obligation to give support for a child who has not been 
emancipated by the court shall not terminate solely on the basis of the child’s 
age if the child suffers from a severe mental or physical incapacity that causes 
the child to be financially dependent on a parent. The obligation to give 
support for that child shall continue until the court finds that the child is 
relieved of the incapacity or is no longer financially dependent on the parent. 
 
SEC. 18. Support Pendente Lite. — In all actions brought for dissolution 
of a civil partnership, legal separation from a partner in a civil partnership 
couple or annulment of the civil partnership, the court may provide for 
support pendente lite. In so doing, the court shall consider the following 
factors, among others: 
(a) The actual need and ability of the parties to pay; 
 
(b) The duration of the civil partnership; 
 
(c) The age, physical and emotional health of the parties; 
 
(d) The standard of living established in the civil partnership and the 
likelihood that each party can maintain a reasonably comparable 
standard of living; 
 
(e) The earning capacities, educational levels, vocational skills and 
employability of the parties; 
 


Page 11 of 14 
(f) The length of absence from the job market of the party seeking 
maintenance; 
 
(g) The parental responsibilities for the children; 
 
(h) The time and expense necessary to acquire sufficient education or 
training to enable the party seeking maintenance to find 
appropriate employment, the availability of the training and 
employment, and the opportunity for future acquisitions of capital 
assets and income; 
 
(i) The history of the financial or non-financial contributions to the 
civil partnership by each party including contributions to the care 
and education of the children and interruption of personal careers 
or educational opportunities; 
 
(j) The equitable distribution of property ordered and any payouts on 
equitable distribution, directly or indirectly, out of current income, 
to the extent this consideration is reasonable, just and fair; 
 
(k) The income available to either party through investment of any 
assets held by that party; and 
 
(l) Any other factors which the court may deem relevant. 
 
For purposes of liquidation of earned assets and properties during the 
civil partnership, household support and assistance are deemed equivalent 
to actual work and industry. 
Dissolution of the civil partnership shall not prejudice the right of 
children to legitimes under the Family Code of the Philippines, as amended. 
 
SEC. 19. Unlawful or Discriminatory Employment Practices. - The 
following are declared as unlawful or discriminatory employment practices: 
 


Page 12 of 14 
(a) For an employer, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge 
or require to retire, unless justified by lawful considerations other 
than age, from employment such individual because of civil 
partnership status, or to discriminate against such individual in 
compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment; 
 
(b) For a labor organization, to exclude or to expel from its membership 
such individual because of civil partnership status, or to 
discriminate in any way against any of its members, against any 
applicant for, or individual included in, any apprentice or other 
training program or against any employee or any individual 
employed by an employer; 
 
(c) For any employee or employment agency to print or circulate or 
cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement or 
publication, or to use any form of application for employment, or 
to make an inquiry in connection with prospective employment, 
which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification 
or discrimination as to civil partnership status for employment; 
 
(d) For any owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent, 
or employee of any place of public accommodation, directly or 
indirectly, to refuse, withhold from or deny to any person any of 
the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or 
to discriminate against any person in the furnishing thereof, or 
directly or indirectly to publish, circulate, issue, display, post or 
mail 
any 
written 
or 
printed 
communication, 
notice, 
or 
advertisement to the effect that any of the accommodations, 
advantages, facilities, or privileges of any such place will be 
refused, withheld from, or denied to any person on account of civil 
partnership status; and 
 
(e) For any person, including any owner, lessee, sublessee, assignee or 
managing agent of, or other person having the right of ownership 
or possession of or the right to sell, rent, lease, assign, or sublease 
any real property or part or portion thereof, or any agent or 
employee of any of these to refuse to sell, rent, lease, assign, or 
sublease or otherwise to deny to or withhold from any person or 


Page 13 of 14 
group of persons any real property or part or portion thereof 
because of civil partnership status. 
 
SEC. 20. Penalty Provisions. –  
(a) Any person who knowingly or willfully refuses to issue civil 
partnership licenses or certificates despite being authorized to do 
so; denies rights and benefits entitled to civil partnership couples; 
or commits unlawful, discriminatory employment practices, as 
provided for in this Act, shall be penalized by a fine of not less than 
One hundred thousand pesos (Php 100,000.00) but not more than 
Five hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00) or imprisonment of 
not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years, or both, 
at the discretion of the court. 
 
If the offender is a corporation or association, the officer responsible 
for the acts enumerated in this Section shall be criminally and civilly liable. 
If the offender is a public officer, prosecution under this Act shall be 
without prejudice to the filing of any administrative case against the public 
officer under other existing laws. 
 
(b) Any person who commits an act of infidelity while bound in a civil 
partnership, as defined in Section 11 of this Act, shall be punished 
by prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods. 
 
SEC. 21. Separability Clause. – If for any reason, any section or provision 
of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or 
provisions which are not affected shall continue to be full force and effect. 
  
SEC. 22. Repealing Clause. — Pertinent provisions of the Family Code 
of the Philippines, as amended, the Civil Code of the Philippines, as 
amended, and the Domestic Adoption Act of 1998, which are inconsistent 
with the provisions of this Act are hereby amended accordingly. All other 
laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules and regulations, or 
parts thereof, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are also hereby 
amended or repealed accordingly. 
 


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SEC. 23. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its 
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
Approved,