Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH (18) CONGRESS
First Regular Session

0
HOUSE BILL NO.

Introduced by REP. JOSE CHRISTOPHER Y. BELMONTE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

In the 15 Congress, House Bill No. 515 entitled “An Act Prohibiting
Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Providing
Penalties Therefor” was originally filed by Rep. Kaka Bag-ao. The same measure was
yet again filed on the 16" Congress by Rep. Kaka Bag-ao as House Bill No. 110 and
by Rep. Sol Aragones at House Bill No. 342.

In the 17% Congress, House Bill No. 4982 entitled “An Act Prohibiting
Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or Expression
(SOGIE) And Providing Penalties Therefor” is a consolidation of several house bills
originally filed as House Bill No. 51 by Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, House Bill No. 267 by
Rep. Geraldine Roman, and House Bill No. 1108 by Rep. Teddy Brawner Baguilat, Jr.
It was in the 17" Congress that the pivotal measure reached a momentous phase upon
its passage on 3" Reading and its transmittance to the Senate.

This measure asserts Section 11, Article II of the 1987 Constitution, where it is
the policy of the State to value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full
respect for their human rights. This legislation is also an articulation of the equal
protection clause in Article III or the Bill of Rights. This bill seeks to augment and
rectify anti-discriminatory policies enshrined in other existing laws such as Republic
Act No. 9710 or the “Magna Carta of Women”, Republic Act No. 8551 or the
“Philippine National Police Reform and Reorganization Act of 1998” and Republic
Act No. 10627 or the “Anti-Bullying Act of 2013”.

Several local government units have enacted their own local ordinances
protecting members of the LGBTQ+ community from discrimination on the basis of
their SOGIE. This includes 18 cities, one municipality, three barangays, and six
provinces with their own anti-discrimination policy, serving a mere quarter of the
country’s population. While some battles are won in the local level, the lack of a

* https://cnnphilippines.com /life/culture/2018/06/25/antidiscrimination-bill-Igbtq.html


national anti-discrimination law remains a challenge in actualizing SOGIE equality.
For one, victims cannot claim redress under these local ordinances without an
ancillary Implementing Rules and Regulations.” So far, only the Quezon City Gender
Fair Ordinance has its own IRR.

Despite the manifestation of political will by some lawmakers, the deeply
ingrained heteronormative practices subdue the basic human rights and fundamental
freedoms long fought for by the LGBTQ+ community. Prejudiced and even
denunciatory acts are still practiced in workplaces, schools, commercial
establishments, public service, and other institutions and public spaces.’ There is a
need to overturn how our very own institutions have treated LGBTQ+ as lepers—
isolated and beneath the rule of law. In light of this, an appropriate legislative measure
has yet to be enacted to guarantee the protection of LGBTQ+ people across all spaces
in the country,

In view of the foregoing, immediate approval of this measure is earnestly

sought.
JepheloA

? https://www.undp.org/content/dam/philippines/docs /Others/rbap-hhd-2018-legal-gender-
recognition-in-the-philippines.pdf
Shttps://www-undp org/content/dam/philippines /docs/Others/rbap-hhd-2018-legal-gender-
recognition-in-the-philippines.pdf


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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH (18%) CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 160

Introduced by REP. JOSE CHRISTOPHER Y. BELMONTE,

AN ACT
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION
OR GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION (SOGIE) AND PROVIDING
PENALTIES THEREFOR

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 “SOGIE Equality Act”.

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - The State recognizes the fundamental right of every
person regardless of sex, age, class, status, ethnicity, color, disability, religious, and political
beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression, to be free from any form of
discrimination. It shall therefore intensify its efforts to fulfill its duties under the Equal
Protection Clause and the Bill of Rights provisions of the Philippine Constitution, and
international and domestic laws to respect, protect, and fulfill the rights and dignity of every
individual.

Towards this end, the State shall exert efforts to address all forms of discrimination,
marginalization and violence on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender identity or
expression, and to promote human dignity as enshrined in the United Nations Universal
Declaration on Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, particularly the General Recommendation No. 28 on Non-
discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, Convention on the Rights of
the Child, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on


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Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and all other relevant and universally-accepted human
rights instruments and other international conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory.
In the enforcement of this Act, all due respect shall be accorded to the fundamental right of
parents in the upbringing of their children in accordance with their religious convictions. In
all matters, the best interest of children shall be paramount.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

(a) Child refers to a person below eighteen (18) years of age or older but who is
incapable of taking care of oneself as defined under Republic Act No. 7610, as amended;

(b) Discrimination refers to any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference
which is based on any ground such as sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
and which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, access to,
enjoyment, or exercise by all persons on an equal footing of all rights and freedoms. The
actual sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression of the person subjected to
discrimination shall not be relevant for the purpose of determining whether an act of
discrimination has been committed;

(c) Gender Expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to
others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, communication or speech pattem, or body
characteristics;

(d) Gender Identity refers to the personal sense of identity as characterized,
among others, by manner of clothing, inclinations, 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, in which case this person is considered transgender;

(©) Hate Crimes refer to criminal offenses committed against a person or a group
of persons, or against such targeted person’s or group’s honor or property, motivated in
whole or in part by the offender’s bias against gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or
expression;

(fp LGBT Community refers to the collective of persons who are male and female
homosexuals (gays and lesbians, respectively), bisexual, and transgender,

(g)  Marginalization refers to a condition where a whole category of people is
excluded from useful and meaningful participation in political, economic, social, and cultural
life;

(h) Sex refers to male, female, or intersex. Intersex refers to people born with the

sex characteristics (including genitals, gonads and chromosome patterns) that do not fit


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typical binary notions of male or female bodies, all of which are natural bodily variations
along a spectrum;

@ Sexual Orientation refers to the direction of emotional, sexual attraction, or
conduct towards people of the same sex (homosexual orientation) or towards people of both
sexes (bisexual orientation), or towards people of the opposite sex (heterosexual orientation)
or to the absence of sexual attraction (asexual orientation); and

@ ‘Stigma refers to the dynamic devaluation and dehumanization of an individual

in the eyes of others which may be based on attributes that are arbitrarily defined by others
as discreditable or unworthy, and which result in discrimination when acted upon.

SEC. 4. Discriminatory Practices. - It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or
juridical, to engage in discrimination as defined in this Act, which shall include:

(a) Denying access to public services, including military service, to any person on
the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression;

(b) —_ Including sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, as well as the
disclosure of sexual orientation, in the criteria for hiring, promotion, transfer, designation,
work assignment, re-assignment, dismissal of workers, and other human resource
movement and action, performance review, and in the determination of employee
compensation, access to career development opportunities, training, and other learning and
development interventions, incentives, privileges, benefits or allowances, and other terms
and conditions of employment: Provided That, this provision shall apply to employment
and skills training in both the private sector and public service, including military, police,
and other similar services: Provided, Further That this prohibition shall likewise apply to
the contracting and engaging of the services of juridical persons;

(©) Refusing admission or expelling a person from any educational or training
institution on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, including
discriminating against a student or trainee due to the sexual orientation or gender identity
or expression of the student’s parents or guardian: Provided, However, That the right of
educational and training institutions to determine the academic qualifications of their
students or trainees shall be duly upheld;

(d) Imposing 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 sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, including
discriminating against a student or trainee due to the sexual orientation or gender identity
or expression of the student’s parents or guardian;


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(e) Refusing or revoking the accreditation, formal recognition, registration or plan
to organize of any organization, group, political party, institution, or establishment in
educational institutions, workplaces, communities, and other settings, solely on the basis
of the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of their members or of their
target constituencies;

(f) Denying a person access to public or private medical and other health services
open to the general public on the basis of such person's sexual orientation or gender
identity or expression;

(g) Denying an application for or revoking a professional or other similar kind of
license, clearance, certification on, or any other similar document, except marriage license,
issued by the government due to the applicant's sexual orientation or gender identity or
expression;

(h) Denying a person access to or the use of establishments, facilities, utilities, or
services, including housing, open to the general public on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity or expression: Provided, That the act of giving inferior accommodations or
services shall be considered a denial of access or use of such facility or service: Provided
further, That this prohibition covers acts of discrimination against juridical persons solely
on the basis of the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of their members or
of their target constituencies;

(i) Subjecting or forcing any person to undertake any medical or psychological
examination to determine or alter, or both, the person's sexual orientation or gender
identity or expression without the expressed approval of the person involved, except in
cases where the person involved is a minor and below the age of discernment in which
case prior approval of the appropriate Family Court shall be required. In the latter case, the
child shall be represented in the proceedings by the Solicitor General or the latter's
authorized representative;

(0) Harassment, coercion, or threats committed by members of institutions
involved in the enforcement of law and the protection of rights of any person on the basis
of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Among other cases, prohibited acts
under this section include arresting or placing under custody, and subjecting a person to
extortion, physical, verbal abuse, or sexual abuse, regardless of whether such arrest has
legal or factual basis. Harassment, coercion, or threat of juridical persons on the basis of
the sexual orientation or gender identity or expression of their members, stockholders,
benefactors, clients, or patrons is likewise covered by this provision;


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(k) Publishing information intended to “out” or reveal the sex, sexual orientation,
or gender identity of persons without their consent, when such has not been made known
by the person/s concerned, and has been made with malicious intent or is primarily
motivated by a desire for commercial profit;

(1) Engaging in public speech meant to shame, insult, vilify, or which tends to
incite or normalize the commission of discriminatory practices against LGBTs, and which
acts or practices in turn, intimidate them or result in the loss of their self-esteem;

(m) — Subjecting persons or groups of persons to harassment generally defined as
such unwanted conduct, pattern of conduct, act, or series of acts which tend to annoy,
insult, bully, demean, offend, threaten, intimidate, alarm, or create a hostile or emotionally
distressing environment, or put them in fear of their safety; and which behavior is
motivated in whole or in part by the offender’s bias, belief, or perception regarding the
offended party’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, regardless of
whether the belief or perception is correct. Such prohibited act may include physical
assault, stalking, or making derogatory comments, slurs or lewd propositions, and may be
conducted through any form of medium, including but not limited to, visual
representation, broadcast communication, correspondence or communication through mail
or any telecommunication device, or through the internet or cyberspace;

(n) Subjecting any person to gender profiling or to any investigatory activities,
which include (i) unnecessary, unjustified, illegal, or degrading searches to determine
whether an individual is engaged in an activity presumed to be unlawful, immoral, or
socially unacceptable; (ii) recording and analyzing a person's psychological and behavioral
characteristics to make generalizations about a person’s sexuality or to assist in identifying
a particular subgroup of people’s sexual orientation or gender identity;

(0) Preventing a child under parental authority, custody, or guardianship from
exhibiting or expressing one’s sexual orientation or gender identity; or manifesting
rejection of such child’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression by inflicting or
threatening to inflict bodily or physical harm against the child or by causing mental or
emotional suffering of the child through intimidation, harassment, public ridicule or
humiliation, repeated verbal abuse, or other similar means, or in general, commit any act
or omission prejudicial to the welfare and interest of the child as a result of the bias against
the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child;


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(p) _ Subjecting a person to any other analogous acts that shall have the effect or
purpose of impairing or nullifying the enjoyment, recognition, or exercise of a person’s
rights and freedoms.

SEC. 5. Privacy Rights. — No person shall be burdened, prejudiced, or prosecuted by
reason of the exercise of the right to personal privacy.

SEC. 6. Administrative Sanctions. — Refusal of a government official whose duty is to
investigate, prosecute, or otherwise act on a complaint for a violation of this Act or causing
unreasonable delay to perform such a duty without a valid ground shall constitute gross
negligence on the part of the official who shall suffer the appropriate penalty under civil

service laws, rules and regulations.

SEC. 7. Penalties. — A person who commits any discriminatory practice described in
Section 4 shall, upon conviction, be penalized by a fine of not less than One hundred
thousand pesos (P100,000) but not more than Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000) or
imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years or both, at the
discretion of the court. In addition, the court may impose upon a person found to have
committed any of the prohibited acts the rendition of community service in terms of
attendance in human rights education’s familiarization with and exposure to the plight of the
victims.

If a graver offense motivated by bias, prejudice, or hatred against sexual orientation
or gender identity or expression is committed, such shall be meted the corresponding
maximum penalties.

Any action arising from the violation of the provisions of this Act shall prescribe in
three (3) years

Nothing in this Act shall preclude the victim from instituting a separate and
independent action for damages and other affirmative reliefs or such other cases for violation
of other applicable penal laws. Further, nothing in this Act shall be construed as giving
authority to the State to unduly interfere with the legitimate exercise by the parents or the
guardians of their right to discipline a child under their parental authority, custody or
guardianship.

‘The penalties provided under this Section shall be meted without prejudice to the

imposition of administrative liability for government officials and employees.


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SEC. 8. Special Aggravating Circumstance. — A person who commits any of the
crimes in the Revised Penal Code or any special law and who is proven to have committed
the same motivated by bias, prejudice, or hate based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender
identity or expression, shall suffer the maximum penalty imposed by the Code or the relevant
special law for such prohibited act.

SEC. 9. Redress mechanisms for SOGIE-related cases

(a) Inclusion of SOGIE Concerns in All Police Station Activities and Services. —
The Women and Children’s Desks now existing in all police stations shall be renamed as
Women, Children and Gender Rights Protection Desk, which shall also act on and attend to
complaints/cases covered by this Act. In this regard, police handling said desks shall undergo
appropriate trainings with human rights-based approach to include among others gender
sensitivity and awareness in proper terminology, dynamics of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender (LGBT) relationships and hate crime investigations.

Complainant-minors can be represented by parents, guardians, or a non-government
organization of good standing and reputation.

(b) Role of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) — The CHR shall investigate
and recommend the filing of a complaint against any person violating this Act. If the CHR
has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group of persons is committing acts
penalized in Section 4 of this Act, the CHR shall recommend a legal action in the appropriate
Pprosecutor’s office or court.

The CHR shall also direct the officer concerned to take appropriate action against a
public officer or employee at fault or who neglects to perform an act or discharge a duty
required under this Act, and recommend the 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 act on the recommendation of the
CHR 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.

The CHR shall also document cases of discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation or gender identity or expression and shall include these documented cases in its
annual human rights report. The Commission shall actively provide recommendations to
different branches of government on how to address and eliminate discrimination on the basis

of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.


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SEC. 10. Government Programs and Policies — The State shall pursue initiatives and
programs that seek to establish and maintain an environment free of stigma and
discrimination. It shall direct the machinery and resources of the State to promote non-
discrimination and shall encourage other sectors of the society to engage and participate in
these efforts. It shall ensure the implementation of the following programs:

(a) Social Protection Programs. — The national government shall ensure that
communities vulnerable to stigma and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or
gender identity or expression are integrated into government-run social protection programs.

(b) Diversity Programs and Trainings. — All government agencies, including
government-owned and controlled corporations, local government units (LGUs), private
companies, public and private education institutions, and other entities shall establish
diversity programs and shall endeavor to provide or conduct trainings for their staff,
employees, students and trainees, and constituents on human rights, gender sensitivity and
awareness, and sensitization on the issue of violence and abuse to ensure that human rights
violations and violence on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression are
prevented. Such institutions may incorporate these activities into existing gender sensitivity
and development training programs or school curricula. Finally, the above-listed agencies,
companies and institutions shall create an internal redress mechanism to address cases of
discrimination and develop administrative remedies or sanction for such cases.

SEC. 11. Empowering portrayal of LGBT persons in Media. ~ The positive and
‘empowering portrayal of LGBT by media shall be encouraged to counter existing stereotypes
and misconceptions that often lead to discriminatory practices. Towards this end, incentives
and awards shall be provided to programs that defend the human rights of LGBT and
contribute to the empowerment of the LGBT community and its members.

SEC. 12. SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee. - For the effective implementation
of this Act, there shall be created a Congressional Oversight Committee, hereinafter referred
to as the SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee, within sixty (60) days after the enactment of
this Act. The SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall be composed of five (5) members
each from the Senate and the House of Representatives, which shall include the Chairpersons
of the Senate Committees on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, and
of Justice and Human Rights, and the Chairpersons of the House of Representatives
Committees on Women and Gender Equality, and of Human Rights. The members from the


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Senate and the House of Representatives shall be appointed by the Senate President and the
Speaker, respectively, with at least one (1) member representing the minority.

The SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall be chaired jointly by the
Chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender
Equality and the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality. The position of Vice-
Chairperson of the SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall be jointly held by the
Chairpersons of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the House
Committee on Human Rights. The Secretariat of the SOGIE Equality Committee shall come
from the Secretariat personnel of the Senate and the House of Representatives committees
concerned.

The SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall monitor the compliance of public
institutions to the provisions of this Act. Within three (3) years after the enactment of this
Act, the SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall conduct an audit of national and local
policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression,
and shall submit a report to Congress, the Office of the President, and the Supreme Court, on
this subject.

The SOGIE Equality Oversight Committee shall cease to exist six (6) years after its

organization.

SEC. 13. Implementing Rules and Regulations — Within sixty (60) days from the
effectivity of this Act, the CHR, Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Service Commission
(CSC), Philippine National Police (PNP), Department of National Defense (DND), National
Youth Commission (NYC), Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), Commission on
Population (POPCOM), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of
Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Department of Health (DOH), and at least three (3)
civil society organizations (CSOs) with proven expertise and track record on SOGIE
concerns, shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 14. Separability Clause. — If any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, the validity of the other provisions shall not be affected
thereby


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SEC. 15. Repealing Clause, ~ All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 16. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication

in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,