Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Queson City iW

NINETEENTH CONGRESS ||
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 278

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY G. HORIBATA
AND HON. NICOLAS ENCISO VIII

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Constitution, Article III, Section 7, provides that "No law shall be made respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, and the free exercise
and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference,
shall forever be allowed.” The Civil Code, Article 32, further provides that any public
officer or employee, or any private individual, who directly or indirectly obstructs, defeats,
violates, or in any manner impedes or impairs the exercise of freedom of religion of
another person shall be liable to the latter for damages.

The above mandate, however, does not include any law that would enforce the right to
the free exercise of religion by students in public schools.

This bill seeks to enforce this right to the free exercise of religion of students in public
schools by providing for the imposition of a civil liability to anyone caught violating this
right.

UIS R. VILLAFUERTE

SO VIII



Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queson City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BILL No._278

Introduced by HON. LUIS RAYMUND “LRAY” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.
HON. MIGUEL LUIS R. VILLAFUERTE, HON. TSUYOSHI ANTHONY G. HORIBATA
AND HON. NICOLAS ENCISO VIII

AN ACT
PROTECTING THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLETO FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE
PHILIPPINES GUARANTEED UNDER SECTION 5, ARTICLE Ill OF THE
CONSTITUTION

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

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shail be known as the “Magna Carta on Religious
Freedom Act."

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — \t is the declared policy of the State to protect and
uphold the fundamental and inalienable right of every person to freely choose and
exercise one’s religion and beliefs and to act and live according to one’s conscience as
guaranteed under Section 5, Article Ill of the Constitution and other international
human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Declaration on the
Elimination on All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion
and Belief, to which the State is a party or that it adheres thereto.

The right of every Filipino to profess, practice and propagate religious beliefs must
always be recognized, respected, allowed and protected.

Towards this end, the State must ensure that no act of the government or any of its
agencies, instrumentalities, officers or employees shall burden, curtail, impinge or
encroach on the person's right to exercise one’s religious belief, freedom and liberty of
conscience. In addition, the government must also prohibit any act by a person, natural
or juridical, or any group of persons that burdens, curtails, impinges or encroaches on
the said right



SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:
a. Atheism refers to the denial of the existence of a personal God or deity, and shall be
treated as form of religion for the purpose of entitlement to the protection of freedom of
religion and conscience;

b. Child refers to any person below eighteen (18) years of age or older but who is
incapable of taking care of oneself, as defined under the Special Protection of Children
against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (Republic Act No. 7610, as
amended);

c. Conscience refers to a person's sense or conviction of right or wrong whether or not
such sense or conviction comes from a well-defined religious belief;

d. Discrimination refers to any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference on the
basis of a person's religion or conscience and which has the purpose or effect of
burdening, curtailing, impinging or encroaching on the person's right to freedom of
exercise of religion and liberality of conscience;

e. Expression of religious belief or conscience refers to the outward or overt
manifestation of one’s religious belief or conscience, whether by speech, or action,
sense or conviction of right or wrong, whether or not such sense or conviction comes
from a well-defined religious belief;

f. Guardian refers to a legal guardian or any person, other than the biological parents,
who takes the responsibility of taking care of the personal and property rights of a child;

g. Religion refers to a particular system of belief, faith, or “paniniwala” concerning God
‘or Higher Authority, whether personal or otherwise, or a transcendent or divine deity or
deities, whether in the singular or plural, as well as the recognition, worship, obedience,
or submission to said God or Higher Authority, either by a fixed dogma, creed, set of
doctrines or belief, or code of conduct or lifestyle, or by an individual's sense of
appropriate or proper behavior, code, or lifestyle in relation to that God or Higher
Authority;

h. Religious Belief refers to a particular belief or set of beliefs held by a particular
religion, or by an individual person;

i. Religious Freedom refers to the freedom to change, adopt, or retain one’s religion or
belief; or from coercion that would impair one's freedom to have or adopt a religion or
belief of one's choice, and to manifest one's religion or belief in worship, observance,
practice and teaching, in public or private, either individually or in community with others;

j. Religious group refers to a church, religious entity, religious organization or group of
persons who have formed together into a congregation for the worship of a Higher
Authority according to the group's established doctrines and ceremonies whether or not


the same is registered with the government. For purposes of this Act, the group does not
need to be registered to be entitled to recognition as a religious group

SECTION 4. Freedom of Religion and Conscience Protected. — The right of every
person to freedom of religion and liberty of conscience, as well as the free exercise or
expression thereof, as defined and enumerated in this Act, shall be protected by the
State. It shall not be denied, burdened, regulated, or curtailed even if it is a result of the
rule of general applicability of existing laws, except in the cases provided in Section 6
hereof.

SECTION 5. Scope. - This Act shall not apply to the act of the Government in enacting
laws in the exercise of its police power. If any such law is declared unconstitutional, the
law shall be invalidated but the Government through its responsible officers, shall not be
subjected to any prosecution under this Act.

SECTION 6. Exception Clause. - The right of every person to freedom of religion, or
the free exercise thereof and liberality of conscience can be denied, regulated, burdened,
or curtailed only if it can be demonstrated that:

a. the free exercise of religious freedom or conscience of a religious group or individual
results to violence or inflicts or poses to inflict direct or indirect physical or material
harm or danger on other people, or infringe on their own freedom of religion or
conscience; and

b. it is necessary to protect public safety, public order, health, property and good
morals.

Further, the State shall ensure that in burdening, regulating, or curtailing religious
freedom or freedom of conscience in the circumstances above-mentioned, the State
shall adopt the least restrictive means. It shall also ensure that the measures taken do
not become a basis, reason, or excuse for the defamation, discrimination, or infliction of
physical harm, hostility, violence, war, or dissemination of propaganda or advocacy
against any such person or group of persons whose expression of religious freedom or
conscience is subject of burden, regulation, or curtailment under conditions stated in this
Act.

SECTION 7. Right to Choose a Religion or Religious Group. — The State shall
protect and promote the right of a person to freely choose one's religion, belief or
religious group.

SECTION 8. Right to Exercise or Express Religious Belief, Practices, Acts or
Activities. - The State shall protect and promote the right of a person to freely profess,
exercise, manifest, or express religious belief, practices, acts or activities, either
individually or in community with others and in public or private, without fear of
discrimination subject to exceptions provided under this Act.


SECTION 9. Right to Act in Accordance with Conscience. - The State shall similarly
protect and promote the right of a person to act, without any form of coercion, in
accordance with one's conscience: Provided, That the act does not inflict physical or
material harm to any person, does not infringe on the religious freedom of others or is not
contrary to morals, health, property, public order and safety

SECTION 10. Right to Propagate Religious Beliefs. — The State shall protect and
promote the right of a person to propagate one's religious belief without any form of
coercion subject to the exceptions provided under this Act

SECTION 11. Right to Disseminate Religious Publications. - The State shall protect
and promote the right of a person to disseminate religious information or publication, in
whatever form, kind or nature and through any platform such as broadcast, print, social
media or other online platforms, subject to the exceptions provided under this Act.

SECTION 12. Right to Religious Worship and Ceremonies. — The State shall protect
and promote the right to religious worship and ceremonies, including that of indigenous
cultural communities and indigenous peoples, free from interruption, disturbance,
violence, and threats thereto, subject to the exceptions provided under this Act.

SECTION 13. Right to Organizational Independence. — The State shall protect and
promote the right of a religious group to manage its own affairs independent from political
influence or control, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations, and the exceptions
provided under this Act.

SECTION 14, Right against Discrimination in Employment. - The State shall protect
and promote the right of a person to equal opportunity and treatment, and
non-discrimination in employment, by virtue of one's religious affiliation or belief.

SECTION 15. Right to Freedom against Discrimination in Educational Institutions.
= The State shall protect and promote the right of a person to be free from discrimination
on the basis of one’s religion, religious belief, religious group or moral sense or
conviction in any educational institution: Provided, That educational institutions that are
founded on religious beliefs or tenets shall be entitled to standards or codes of behavior
pursuant to their religious beliefs and disciplines.

SECTION 16. Right of Companies or Businesses to be Founded on Religious
Belief. — It shall be the right of business people and founders or operators of business
outfits to establish the companies, offices, or operations, according to certain tenets of
religious beliefs: Provided, That the same are contained in writing and form part of the
company's vision and mission statements, in which case, such company or outfit shall be
accorded the guarantees provided for under this Act.

SECTION 17. Right of Parents or Legal Guardians to Rear Children. — The State
shall protect and promote the right of parents or guardians to be at liberty in rearing their
children according to their religion, belief, or conscience: Provided, That a child who


comes to the age of majority shall be respected in his or her choice of _ religious belief:
Provided, further, That in such a case, parental authority under the Civil Code, the Family
Code, or The Child And Youth Welfare Code as may be applicable, shall not be
deemed diminished in any way.

SECTION 18. Right to Tax Exemption. — The State shall protect the right of churches
or religious organizations formed and operating exclusively for religious purposes to be
exempted from the payment of taxes on all its real properties that are actually, directly,
and exclusively used for religious purposes, pursuant to the provisions of the
Constitution, and as provided by law.

SECTION 19. Prohibited Acts. — It shall be unlawful for any person, natural or juridical,
to:

a. Compel a person, by means of force, threat, intimidation or undue influence, to
choose or not to choose a particular religious group, or to subscribe to a particular
religious belief: Provided, That the practice of certain religious groups or faiths of
requiring either or both couples to be a member thereof before marriage may be
officiated shall not be prohibited;

b. Threaten a person with harm or exert undue influence or pressure in order to prevent
such person from changing one’s religion or belief or from transferring from one
religious group to another;

c. Compel a person, by means of force, threat, intimidation or undue influence, to
commit an act which is in violation of one’s religious belief or conscience;

d. Defame, harass, humiliate or offend a person by reason of one’s religious belief or
the practice of such belief;

e. Obstruct, hinder or prevent the flow of and access to religious information;

f, Hinder or prevent a person from exercising any act that is an expression of one's
religious belief,

g. Perform or threaten to perform any act that constitutes or promotes stigma, hate or
persecution of a particular religious belief, religious practice, or religious community;

h. Perform or threaten to perform any act that effectively impedes, obstructs, prohibits,
prevents or inflicts any harm or threatens to cause harm, or in any manner, prevents any
person from freely and lawfully expressing and exercising one's religious beliefs;

i. Compel a person, by means of force, threat, intimidation or undue influence to
lawtully express and exercise religious beliefs against one's will;

j. Obstruct, hinder, cause undue delay or unjustifiably refuse the production, or the


valid and free distribution of religious publications: Provided, That such publications do
not contradict the religious beliefs of the publishing company, and such publication does
not violate any existing law;

k. Exert undue influence over the decisions made by any leader or leaders of a
religious community through monetary, political, social and personal gains as well as
parochial interest;

|. Deny employment to qualified applicants solely on the basis of religion

m. Severe or terminate employment of a person solely on the basis of one's adherence
to religious belief;

n. Deny maliciously and deliberately a religious institution or a person employed by a
religious entity the tax exemptions they are entitled to; and

Commit any other act that curtails or violates the rights of a person to religious freedom
as provided for under this Act.

SECTION 20. Penalties. - Any person, natural or juridical, who violates Section 19 of
this Act shall suffer the following penalties:

a. For the first violation:

1) For a private individual - a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos
(P100,000.00) but not exceeding Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or
imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day but not more than eight (8)
years, or both, at the discretion of the court;

2) For a juridical person — a fine of not less than One hundred thousand pesos
(P100,000.00) but not exceeding Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00), or
imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day but not more than eight (8)
years, or both, at the discretion of the court, on the official or employee directly liable and
responsible for the prohibited act.

Provided, That for the juridical entity, a fine of Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) to
Two hundred thousand pesos (P200,000.00) shall be imposed on officers directly
running the operations of the juridical entity.

b. For any subsequent violation:

1) For a private individual - a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) but not exceeding Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00), or imprisonment of
not less than eight (8) years but not more than ten (10) years, or both, at the discretion of
the court;


2) For a juridical person — a fine of not less than Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) but not exceeding Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00), or imprisonment of
not less than eight (8) years but not more than ten (10) years, or both, at the discretion of
the court, on the official or employee directly liable and responsible for the prohibited
act.

Provided, That for the juridical entity, a fine of Two hundred thousand pesos
(200,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (P500,000.00) shall be imposed on
officers directly running the operations of the juridical entity: Provided, further, That if the
violation is committed by a corporation or other juridical entity, the penalty provided in
this Act shall be imposed upon the directors, officers, employees or other officials or
persons therein responsible for the offense without prejudice to civil liabilities arising from
the criminal offense.

If the offender is a government employee or official, the accessory penalty of
perpetual disqualification from public office or employment shall also be imposed.

Ifa violation of any of the acts prohibited herein is also an act prohibited under the
Revised Penal Code, the imposition of the higher penalty shall apply.

SECTION 21. Establishment of Religious Freedom Hotline. — The Secretary of the
Department of Justice (DOJ) shall establish, maintain and publicize a toll-free number to
provide timely and accurate information and respond to queries regarding the rights
protected under this Act.

SECTION 22. Prohibition Against the Establishment of A Religion by the State. —
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect or diminish, in any way, the meaning and
intent of Section 5, Article 3 of the Constitution, which prohibits the State from
establishing any religion.

SECTION 23. Implementing Rules and Regulations. — Within ninety (90) days from
after the effectivity of this Act, the Secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ),
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Education (DepEd),
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Legal Education Board (LEB), Chairperson of
the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR), Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF)
shall, in coordination with other concerned government agencies and in consultation with
the stakeholders, jointly formulate rules and regulations to implement the _ provisions
of this Act. The Chairperson of the CHR and the Secretary of the DOJ shall act as the
co-Chairpersons of the body that shall formulate the IRR.

SECTION 24. Separability Clause. — If any provision or part hereof is declared
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provision not affected thereby shall
remain in full force and effect.


SECTION 25. Repealing Clause. — All laws, decrees, executive orders, memorandum
orders, memorandum circulars, administrative orders, ordinances, or parts thereof,
which are inconsistent with the right to freedom of religion and liberty of conscience and
the provisions of this Act, are hereby deemed repealed or modified accordingly

SECTION 26. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation
Approved,

Approved,