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Republic of the Philippines pate 07 SEP 2016
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE: Sue eM

Quezon City, Metro Manila

[ee

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS e i
REGISTRATION

First Regular Session Baie Ne MEX, Sense
Bees Kare
House Bill No, __ 3044

Introduced by REP. SHARON GARIN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Equality underscores the human rights principles that are embedded in the laws of the country.
The legal framework with which we protect and promote human rights, from the 1987
Constitution and several special laws to various international human rights that the Philippines
is a signatory of, affirms the equal application of human rights and freedoms.

The denial of basic fairness, however, is an everyday reality for many Filipinos. Indigenous
Peoples are denied access to basic services because of prejudices against their ethnolinguistic
background or cultural expressions. Muslim Filipinos suffer from ridicule and harassment caused
by ignorance brought about by religious differences. Biases against one’s sexual orientation or
gender identity result in the denial of one’s right to education or work. HIV-related stigma
limits opportunities not just for persons living with HIV (PLHIV), but also for communities that
are vulnerable or affected by it. Persons with disability (PWDs) are still treated as second-class
citizens in the country because of prejudices against their condition.

This demonstrates that the realities on the ground do not meet the standards and guarantees
Provided by universally recognized human rights. Cases of human rights violations against
vulnerable Filipino communities, some of which are considerably grave, present a serious
challenge to the State and the society in general: as the country strives to improve the lives of
Filipinos, there are individuals and groups that are left behind.

The fundamental law also declares that the State values the dignity of every human person and
guarantees full respect for human rights (Section 11, Article IZ, 1987 Constitution). It also
imposes on the State the duty to ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and
men (Sec. 14, Id.).

Furthermore, the equal Protection clause in the Bill of Rights, which according the eminent
Constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas "is a specific constitutional guarantee of the Equality of a
person’; provides a remedy for those who suffer from discrimination. In JM. Tuason and Co.
vs. The Land Tenure Administration, the Supreme Court ruled that this clause requires that
“Yfaws operate equally and uniformly on all persons under similar circumstances or that all

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persons must be treated in the same manner, the conditions not being different, both in the
privileges conferred and the liabilities imposed.”

This proposed measure provides protection against various forms of discriminatory practices. It
recognises the intersectionalities and layers of human rights abuses, which requires a more
comprehensive framework. The bill does not accord additional entitlements to any communities;
instead, it ensures that violations or threats to human rights are addressed.

The bill is also not simply punitive. It also recognises that preventive measures are of equal
importance. It responds to stigma, or the dehumanisation of vulnerable individuals or
Communities, and ensures that respect for diversity is promoted. It thus supports the inclusion
of various vulnerable communities in the government's social protection programs, and that
within the private and public spheres, ‘diversity programs’ are established and implemented.

As the country moves towards the fulfillment of the guarantees provided by the Constitution
and by various human rights instruments, discrimination needs to be addressed and eliminated
No Filipino should be left behind.

The approval of this bill is urgently sought.



Republic of the Phi
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No.__ 3541

Introduced by REP. SHARON S. GARIN

AN ACT
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF ETHNICITY, RACE, RELIGION
OR BELIEF, SEX, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY AND
EXPRESSIONS, LANGUAGE, DISABILITY, HIV STATUS, AND OTHER STATUS, AND
PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR

&e it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known and cited as the “Comprehensive Anti-
Discrimination Act.”

Section 2. Declaration of Policies. — It is the Policy of the state to work actively for the
elimination of all forms of discrimination that offends the equal protection clause of the Bill of
Rights and the State obligations under human rights instruments acceded to by the Republic of
the Philippines, particularly those discriminatory practices based on sex or sexual orientation.
Towards this end, discriminatory practices as defined herein shall be proscribed and penalized

Section 3. Definition of Terms — For the purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be
defined as follows:

a. Disability refers to (1) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or
more psychological, physiological or anatomical function of an individual or activities of
such individual; (2) a record of such an impairment; or (3) being regarded as having
such an impairment.

b. Discrimination refers to any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference or other
differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on ethnicity, race, religion or
belief, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, HIV
status, or other status, which has the intention or effect of nullifying or impairing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of political, civil, economic,


social, and cultural rights. Discrimination, which also includes incitement to discriminate
and harassment, is a result or a product of stigma.

Education and Training refers to all types and levels of education, training, and other
avenues for learning and includes access thereto, the standard and quality thereof, and
the conditions under which the same is given.

Ethnic Origin refers to race, national origin, and ethno-linguistic origin.

Employment refers to all terms, conditions, and privileges relating to work in public and
private institutions, including recruitment policies, application procedures, training,
incentives, compensation, determination of benefits or allowances, promotion,
advancement opportunities, transfer, and dismissal. This definition shall apply to regular,
probationary, casual, contractual, fixed-term, and seasonal workers. In legitimate
Contracting arrangements, the contractor/subcontractor shall be deemed the employer
of the contractual employee.

Gender Identity refers to the personal sense of identity or expression as characterized,
among others, by manners of clothing, indinations, and behavior in relation to
masculine or feminine conventions. A person may have a male or female identity with
the physiological characteristics of the opposite sex.

. Gender Expression refers to the outward manifestations of the cultural traits that enable
a person to identify as male or female according to patterns that, at a particular moment
in history, a given society defines as gender appropriate.

HIV Status refers to the presence or absence of the human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) in the body of an individual.

Indigenous Peoples refers to Peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of
their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest
or colonization, or at the time of inroads of nonindigenous religions and cultures, or the
establishment of present state boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social,
economic, cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced from their
traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains;

Indigenous Peoples also refers to a group of people or homogenous societies identified
by self ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as organized
community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims
of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories,
sharing common bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural
traits, or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of
colonization, nonindigenous religions and cultures, became historically differentiated
from the majority of Filipinos;


j. Profiling refers to relying on the prohibited grounds of discrimination in subjecting a
Person or group of persons to investigatory activities, which include unnecessary,
unjustified, illegal, and degrading searches, questioning or other investigatory activities,
in determining whether an individual is engaged in an activity presumed to be unlawful,
immoral, or socially unacceptable.

k. Religious Belief refers to the profession or non-profession of religion or belief of one’s
choice that may be publicly or privately manifested in worship, observance, practice and
teaching.

|. Sexual Orientation refers to the direction of emotional sexual attraction or conduct, This
can be towards people of the same sex (homosexual orientation), towards people of
both sexes (bisexual orientation), towards neithers, or towards people of the opposite
sex (heterosexual orientation) or towards everyone.

m. Stigma refers to the dynamic process of devaluation that significantly discredits an
individual in the eyes of others. When stigma is acted upon, the result is discrimination,

n. Vulnerable Communities refer to communities or sectors that encounter stigma and
discrimination based on the grounds enumerated in Section 4.

Section 4. Prohibited Grounds for Discrimination. — For the purposes of this Act,
discrimination that is indirectly or directly based on the actual or perceived ethnicity, race,
religion or belief, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, civil
status, disability, HIV status, or other status is Prohibited.

Section 5. Discriminatory Acts. — The following acts shall be prohibited:

a. _Inflicting stigma ~ It shall be unlawful for any person to commit any acts that promote
and encourage stigma based on the grounds referred to in Section 4. Content in the
media, in educational textbooks, or in other medium that aims to inflict stigma is
likewise prohibited.

b. Denial of political, civil, and cultural rights - It shall be unlawful to deny a person
enjoyment of political, civil, and cultural rights based on the grounds referred to Section
4.

¢. Denial of right to education - It is unlawful for any person to:

1, _ Refuse admission or expel a person from any educational or training institution
on the basis of the grounds defined in Section 4, without prejudice to the right of
educational or training institutions to determine the academic qualifications of
their students or trainees;

2. Impose disciplinary sanctions, penalties harsher than customary, or similar
Punishments, requirements, restrictions, or prohibitions that infringe on the
rights of the students on the basis of the grounds identified in Section 4; and


This prohibition extends to acts committed against a student or trainee to discriminate
his or her parents or legal guardians based on grounds referred to in Section 4.

d. Denial of right to work — It is unlawful for any person to:

1, Use the grounds in Section 4 or require the disclosure thereof in the selection,
Promotion, and termination of workers, and in the determination of
compensation, training, incentives, privileges, benefits or allowances, as well as
other terms and conditions of employment;

2. Deny employment in government institutions, including police and military
service, based directly or indirectly on the grounds referred to in Section 4;

3. Refuse to enter into contract or agreement with persons or group of persons
based solely or partly on the grounds provided in Section 4; and

4. deny an application for or revoke a professional license issued by the
government directly or indirectly due to the grounds included in Section 4.

e. Denial of access to goods and services — It is unlawful for any person to:

1. Deny a person, solely or partly on the basis of the grounds in Section 4, of goods
and services available to the general public, such as but not limited to private
and public insurance, housing and other forms of accommodation, medical and
clinical services;

2. Refuse entry to or evict a person from any establishment, facilities or utilities
that are open to the general public, such as but not limited to restaurants, bars,
hotels, shopping malls, solely or partly on the basis of the grounds listed in
Section 4;

3. Cause undue and unjust deferral of services or provision of inferior services to
persons due to the grounds in Section 4; and

There is discrimination if the acts above are committed against organizations or groups
of persons based on the grounds identified in Section 4.

f. Denial of right to organize ~ It shall be unlawful to prohibit, prevent, or revoke the
accreditation, formal recognition, and/or registration of any organization, group, political
party, institution or establishment, in educational institutions, workplaces, communities,
and other settings, based partly or solely on the grounds provided for in Section 4.

Discrimination is also committed when additional requirements beyond the customary
are imposed directly or indirectly due to the grounds stipulated in Section 4.

9. Inflicting harm on health and well-being - It shall be unlawful to subject any person,
without consent, to any unnecessary medical or physical examination, psychological
treatment, faith-based practices, and other similar procedures based solely or partly on
any of the grounds referred to in Section 4 that aim to change identity or physical
attributes or impose behavior or expressions.


h. Engaging in profiling - It shall be illegal for any person, including members of the
military and law enforcement agencies, to engage in profiling based solely or partly on
the grounds included in Section 4,

i, Abuses by state and non-state actors — It shall be unlawful for any government
agencies, including local government units, police, military, and immigration, to harass
verbally or physically, to curtail freedom of movement, or to extort from a person or a
group of persons on the basis of the grounds stipulated in Section 4. This prohibition
applies to similar abuses committed by non-state actors.

J. Detention and confinement — It shall be unlawful to detain and confine a person or
groups of persons based directly or indirectly on the grounds under Section 4,

k. Other analogous circumstances — Any analogous acts which have the effect or purpose
of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise of the person's human
rights and fundamental freedoms are also prohibited.

Section 6. Persons Liable - Any person, natural or juridical, or their representatives,
including government, government-owned and controlled corporations, or any private
corporation, institution or company, who commits any of the acts under Section 5, shall be
liable under this Act.

Any person, natural or juridical, or their representatives, who requests, instructs, induces,
encourages, authorizes, tolerates, or assists another to commit any of the acts under Section 5
shall also be principally liable under this Act.

Section 7. Programs to promote non-discrimination and diversity — The State shall
endeavor to eliminate all forms of discrimination and shall therefore pursue initiatives and
Programs that seek to enable an environment free of stigma and discrimination. It shall direct
the machinery and resources of the State to ensure non-discrimination and promote equality
and shall encourage other sectors of the society to engage and participate in these efforts, It
shall ensure the establishment of the following programs:

a. Social Protection Program ~ The national government shall implement social protection
measures for communities affected by and vulnerable to stigma and discrimination.

b. Diversity Programs and Policies - All government agencies, government-owned and
controlled corporations, private companies, public and private educational institutions,
and other entities shall establish diversity programs to ensure that discrimination and
abuse are prevented. They shall also create an internal redress mechanism to address
cases of discrimination and grant administrative remedies or sanctions for such cases.

The Civil Service Commission, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of
Interior and Local Government, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of

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Education, Commission on Higher Education, Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority, Department of Justice, Department of Foreign Affairs, and
Department of Health shall ensure the implementation of this section.

Failure of the above agencies to ensure the implementation of this provision shall be
deemed refusal to address discrimination and shall be penalized as an analogous act of
discrimination.

Section 8. Duties of the Commission on Human Rights, - The Commission shall
investigate and prosecute on its own or on complaint by any person acts or omissions violating
this Act. If the Commission has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons
is engaged in discrimination under this Act, the Commission shall commence a legal action in
the regular court.

The Commission shall also direct the officer concerned to take appropriate action against a
Public officer or employee at fault or who neglect to perform an act or discharge a duty
required under this Act, and order revocation of license, removal from office or employment,
suspension, demotion, fine, censure, or prosecution, and ensure compliance therewith. Refusal
by any officer without just cause to comply with an order of the Commission to revoke the
license, remove, suspend, demote, fine, censure, or prosecute an officer or employee who is at
fault, or who neglects to perform an act or discharge a duty required under this Act, shall be a
ground for disciplinary action against said officer.

Section 9. Penalties. - Persons found guilty of any of the discriminatory practices under
Section 5 (A), 5 (B), 5 (E), 5 (F), and 4 (K) of this Act shall be penalized with a fine of not less
than One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000) but not to exceed Two Hundred and Fifty
Thousand Pesos (P250,000) or imprisonment of two (2) years but not more than six (6) years,
or both at the discretion of the court.

Persons found guilty of any of the discriminatory practices under Section 5 (C), 5 (D), 5 (G), 5
(H), 5 (1), 5 (2) and 5 (K) of this Act shall be penalized with a fine of not less than Two Hundred
Fifty Thousand Pesos (P250,000) but not to exceed Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000)
or imprisonment of six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or both at the discretion
of the court.

If the violator is a corporation, organization or any similar entity, the officials thereof directly
involved shall be liable therefor.

If the violator is an alien or a foreigner, he shall be deported immediately after service of
sentence without further deportation proceedings.


Persons found guilty of any of the discriminatory practices prohibited under this Act shall also
be civilly liable.

The administrative remedies provided under this Act do not bar prosecution or civil claims in
proper courts for any act of discrimination committed under this Act.

If any crime penalized under the Revised Penal Code is committed in pursuit of discrimination,
the penalty provided under the Revised Penal Code shall be applied and the discrimination
committed shall be considered as an aggravating circumstance.

Section 10. Appropriations. - The initial amount necessary to implement the provisions of
this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriation of the agencies tasked to
implement the provisions of this Act. Thereafter, such sums as maybe necessary for the
continued implementation of this Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — The CHR, Civil Service Commission,
Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and Local Government, the
‘Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Justice, Department of
Foreign Affairs, Department of Health, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and
National Commission on Muslim Filipinos shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and
regulations within sixty (60) days from the effectivity of this Act.

Section 12. Separability clause. — Any portion or provision of this Act that may be declared
unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying the other portions and
provisions hereof as long as such remaining portion or provision can still subsist and be given
effect in their entirety.

Section 13. Repealing clause. ~ Al laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modified accordingly.

Section 14. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in
the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,