Republic of the Philippines : Te 2: GPM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES \e. BY “SOVA ie)
Quezon City ey &
Wo inves
TWENTIETH CONGRESS

First Regular Session

HOUSE BILLNO.__ 619

Introduced by Representative ANTONINO B. ROMAN IIL

EXPLANATORY NOTE

In Republic of the Philippines v. Cagandahan (G.R. No. 166676, September 12,
2008), the Supreme Court made a landmark ruling that recognized the right of an intersex
~ Jennifer Cagandahan -- to amend her name and sex in the civil register, from
to "Jeff" and from "female" to "male," respectively. The Court found that
Cagandahan, diagnosed with Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH), had biologically
developed ambiguous genitalia and phenotypic male characteristics due to the natural
overproduction of male hormones (androgens), despite having XX chromosomes.

The Court emphasized that where a person is biologically intersex, and has reached
the age of majority, the determining factor in gender classification must be the individual's
own informed and reasonable self-identification. In affirming Jeff Cagandahan’s choice, the
Court ruled that "[s]exual development in cases of intersex persons makes the gender
classification at birth inconclusive. It is at maturity that the gender of such persons... is
fixed."

Importantly, the Court declined to impose on Cagandahan the obligation to conform
to rigid medical or social expectations, recognizing that “[rlespondent has simply let nature
take its course... To him belongs the human right to the pursuit of happiness and of health.
Thus, to him should belong the primordial choice of what courses of action to take along the
path of his sexual development and maturation.”

This landmark ruling reflects a shift toward respecting bodily autonomy and the lived
realities of intersex individuals. Yet, despite this jurisprudence, no statute currently provides
a clear, accessible, and administrative remedy for intersex Filipinos to rectify inaccurate
entries in their civil records. Currently, individuals must resort to costly and time-consuming
judicial proceedings, contrary to the spirit of the Court’s ruling.

This bill seeks to address that legislative gap. It authorizes the city or municipal civil
registrar and the consul general to correct the sex and first name entries in the civil register
for adult intersex individuals—without the need for judicial order -- so long as the intersex
condition naturally developed and is supported by appropriate medical documentation.

2 ONE UN 2075

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By establishing this administrative remedy, the bill affirms the right of intersex
persons to dignity, legal recognition, and the free pursuit of happiness. It honors the Supreme
Court’s precedent in Cagandahan and seeks to give full legal meaning to the principle that
intersex Filipinos must be empowered to define their own identity, in accordance with their
lived experience and biological reality.

In view of the foregoing, the urgent passage of this bill is eamestly sought.

ANTI B. ROMAN IIL


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House BiLLNo._619

Introduced by Representative ANTONI

(0 B. ROMAN IIE

AN ACT
AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR
OR THE CONSUL GENERAL TO ADMINISTRATIVELY CHANGE
THE SEX AND THE FIRST NAME OF AN INTERSEX PERSON

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 Cagandahan Law.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Principles. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State to
recognize the inherent dignity and rights of all individuals under the law. The State
recognizes the importance of an efficient and accessible civil registration system that enables
individuals to control and protect their personal information and identity, uphold individual
rights and autonomy, and correct errors in their civil register entries. In furtherance of this
policy, the State upholds the fundamental right of every person to privacy, self-
determination, and non-discrimination.

Every individual has the fundamental right to privacy, encompassing the right to
control and protect their personal information, medical history, and identity.

All citizens have the right to self-determination with respect to their personal
information, including but not limited to decisions related to the correction of clerical or
typographical errors in the civil register and changes of first names or nicknames.

No person shall be subject to any form of discrimination, stigmatization, or
marginalization. It shall therefore intensity its efforts to fulfill its duties under the Equal
Protection Clause and 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.

Furthermore, the State recognizes the fundamental freedom of its citizens to
determine choices as long as they do not harm other members of society who are equally
entitled to protection under the law.


SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. — Whenever referred to under this Act, the following
terms shall be understood as:

a) "City or Municipal Civil Registrar" refers to the head of the local civil registry
office of a city or municipality.

b) "Civil Register" refers to the various registry books and related certificates and
documents kept in the archives of the local civil registry offices, Philippine
Consulates and of the Office of the Civil Registrar General.

°o”
Office.

Registrar General" refers to the Head of Office of the National Statistics

d) "First name" refers to a name or nickname given to a person which may consist of
one or more names, excluding the middle initial and surname.

Intersex" is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of innate bodily
variations in sex characteristics. Intersex people are born with physical sex
characteristics (such as sexual anatomy, reproductive organs, hormonal patterns.
and/or chromosomal patterns) that do not fit typical definitions for male or female
bodies.

e)

f) "Applicant" refers to the intersex person filing the application for the correction or
change of entry in his or her Certificate of Live Birth.

g) “Primary sex characteristics” refers to physical traits that indicate their biological
sex, such as chromosomes, external genitalia, gonads, hormones, and internal
reproductive organ that are present at birth.

h) “Secondary sex characteristics” refers to physical traits that indicate their

biological sex, such as chromosomes, external genitalia, gonads, hormones, and

internal reproductive organ that develop after birth.

SECTION 4. Authority to Change the Entry on the Sex of an Applicant with the Ci
Registry. -— The concerned city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall have
the authority to change, without a judicial order, the sex in the civil register of an intersex
person upon proving that he or she is an intersex based on his or her primary and/or
secondary sex characteristics in accordance with this Act and its Implementing Rules and
Regulations (IRR), subject to requirements under Section 6 of this Act.; Provided, That, the
changing of sex and/or first name shall be made de jure applicable to intersex people of legal
age due to the inborn nature of their medical condition.

SECTION 5. Who may File and Where to File the Application. - The intersex person,
who is at least 18 years of age, may file, in person, a notarized application with the local
civil registry office of the city or municipality where the record being sought to be changed
is kept.

In case the applicant has already migrated to another place in the country and it would
impractical and unduly burdensome for such party (given travel expenses. and the time and
effort needed to appear in person before the local civil registrar keeping the documents to be
corrected or changed), the application may be filed, in person, with the local civil registrar



of the place where the interested party is presently residing or domiciled. The two (2) local
civil registrars concerned will then communicate to facilitate the processing of the
application.

If the application raises grounds other than those covered by this Act necessitating
judicial proceedings, jurisdiction over the application shall vest in the Regional Trial Court
having territorial jurisdiction over the local civil registrar’s office where the record sought
to be corrected or changed is kept.

Citizens of the Philippines who are presently working, residing, domiciled, or found
in foreign countries may file their application, in person, with the nearest Philippine
Consulates. Applications under this act may be filed online pursuant to the rules that may be
set out on the Implementing Rules of this Act.

Applications filed with the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall
be processed in accordance with this Act and its IRR.

SECTION 6. Change in the First Name of an Intersex Person. - An application for
change of the recorded sex of an intersex person in the civil register may include a prayer to
change the applicant’s first name to conform to such change.

SECTION 7. Form and Contents of the Application. — An application for a change of the
recorded sex of an intersex person in the civil register with or without prayer for a change of
first name, shall be in the form of an affidavit, subscribed and swom to before any person
authorized by law to administer oaths. The affidavit shall set forth facts necessary to establish
the merits of the application and shall show affirmatively that the applicant is competent to
testify to the matters stated. The application shall be supported by the following documents:

a) A certified true copy of the Certificate of Live Birth or of the page of the registry
book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changed; and

b) A medical certificate from a competent and licensed physician affiliated with or
accredited by the Department of Health, attesting, under pain of perjury, that the
applicant is an intersex person.

‘The application and its supporting papers shall be filed in three (3) copies to be
distributed as follows: first copy to the concerned city or municipal civil registrar or the
consul general; second copy to the Office of the Civil Registrar General; and third copy to
the applicant.

The application shall be published at least once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks
in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or province where the application is filed or
in the newspaper of general circulation if filed in a Philippine consulate.

Furthermore, the applicant shall submit a certification from the appropriate law
enforcement, agencies that he or she has no pending case or no criminal record: Provided
that, the pendency of a case or the presence of a criminal record shall not be a ground to deny
the application; Provided, further, that the local civil registrar or the consul general shall
furnish a copy of its order granting with finality the application to the concerned court or
courts.


The local registrar shall likewise furnish all other appropriate government agencies
with a copy of the final order. Such government agencies shall make the necessary
corrections to their record reflecting the sex and/or name of the applicant.

SECTION 8. Application of Minor Children. — In the case of a minor child, any change
of sex in his or her civil register based on being an intersex, with or without prayer for a
change of name, shall be done through a petition filed in court, considering the best interest
of the child. The decision in such proceeding shall not bar the intersex person from availing
of the remedy under this Act upon reaching the age of majority

SECTION 9. Duties of the City or Municipal Civil Registrar or the Consul
General. - The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to whom the application
is presented shall examine the application and its supporting documents. He or she shall post
the application in two (2) conspicuous places provided for that purpose for ten (10)
consecutive days after he or she finds the application and its supporting documents sufficient
in form and substance.

The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general shall act on the application
and shall render a decision not later than five (5) working days after the completion of the
posting and/or publication requirement. He or she shall transmit a copy of the decision
together with the records of the proceedings to the Office of the Civil Registrar General
within five (5) working days from the date of the decision.

SECTION 10. Duties and Powers of the Civil Registrar General — The Civil Registrar
General shall, within ten (10) working days from receipt of the decision granting an
application, exercise the power to reverse the decision based on this Act.

‘The Civil Registrar General shall, within three (3) working days, notify the city or
municipal civil registrar or the consul general, and the applicant, of the action taken on the
decision.

The applicant may seek reconsideration with the Civil Registrar General or file the
appropriate application with the proper court.

If the Civil Registrar General does not reverse the decision of the city or municipal
civil registrar or of the consul general within the period prescribed, the decision shall become
final and executory.

SECTION 11. Sealing of Records. - Should the application be granted, the Local Civil
Registrar shall issue a new Certificate of Live Birth reflecting the corrected and/or changed
entries. The superseded Certificate of Live Birth shall be sealed and shall not be released or
disclosed except upon order of a competent court.

SECTION 12. Payment of Fees. - The city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general
shall be authorized to collect reasonable fees as a condition for accepting and processing the
application. An indigent applicant shall be exempt from the payment of such fees.

For this purpose, an applicant shall be deemed indigent upon presentation of at least
one (1) of the following documents:


a) A Certificate of Indigency issued by the Barangay;

b) A Certification of Indigency issued by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD);

©) Affidavit of Indigency: and

d) Such other document deemed sufficient by the city or municipal civil registrar or
the consul general to prove indigency

SECTION 13. Penalty Clause. - A person who violates any of the provisions of this Act
shall, upon conviction, be penalized by imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not
more than twelve (12) years, or a fine of not less than ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00) but
not more than One Hundred Thousand pesos (P100,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the
court.

In addition, if the offender is a government official or employee, he or she shall suffer
the penalties provided under civil service laws, rules and regulations.

SECTION 14. Confidentiality Clause. — Except as provided in Section 7, all records and
information related to the correction of clerical or typographical errors in the civil register
and changes of first names or nicknames shall be treated with the utmost confidentiality.
Civil registrars, officials, and employees involved in the process shall ensure the non-
disclosure of sensitive personal information except as required by law or with the express
consent of the individual concerned.

SECTION 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The civil registrar general shall, in
consultation with the Department of Justice, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Office
of the Supreme Court Administrator, the University of the Philippines Law Center and the
Philippine Association of Civil Registrars, issue the necessary rules and regulations for the
effective implementation of this Act not later than three (3) months from the effectivity of
this law.

SECTION 16. Separability Clause. - If any portion or provision of this Act is declared
void or unconstitutional, the remaining portions or provisions thereof shall not be affected
by such declaration.

SECTION 17. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, other
issuances, or parts inconsistent with this Act's provisions are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.

SECTION 18. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,