Republic of the Philippines Hust oe KEM
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES arcEsVED

Quezon City *
pave: _14 Wt 2018
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS awe o am
First Regular Session Ey
1556
HOUSE BILL NO.. RFEISTRATION UNIT

AND INDEX SERVICE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The fundamental human rights are well-enshrined in the 1987 Philippine
Constitution. The State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full
respect for human rights.’ Oppression, maltreatment, and discrimination have no
place in a civilized nation. More often than not, the hapless victims are left with an
almost indelible scar and emotional trauma on their consciousness as a human
being. The framers of the Constitution put in place provisions that would safeguard
the citizen’s rights and liberties. Every citizen has now a bundle of rights which must
be upheld and respected by all and no less than the supreme law of the land
demand of this treatment.

As a matter of policy, the State should always apply the law equally to all
persons. The equal protection clause’, according to an eminent constitutionalist, is
the specific constitutional guarantee of the equality of the person.’ This clause
requires that laws operate equally and uniformly on all persons under similar
circumstances or that all persons must be treated in the same manner, the
conditions not being different, both in the privileges conferred and the liabilities
imposed.*

Moreover, our country is signatory to the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) which gives paramount recognition of the inherent dignity
and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The UDHR provides that
everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind such
as race, color, sex or gender or sexual orientation language, religion political or other

* Phil. Const. art, § 11

* Phil. Const. art. Ill, § 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.

>), Bernas, S.., Constitutional Rights and Social Demands: Notes and Cases, Vol. II {1991], p. 48

“JM Tuason and Co. v. The Land Tenure Administration, 31 SCRA 413 (1970)

EN ATIVES:



opinion, educational attainment, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status®.

We are likewise a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights which recognizes non-discrimination and equality as
fundamental components of international human rights law and essential to the
exercise and enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. It obliges each State
Party to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be
exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.° The equal and inalienable rights of “everyone” to the various Covenant rights
such as, inter alia, the right to work, just and favourable conditions of work, social
security, an adequate standard of living, and health and education must be upheld at
all times.

More and more local statutes previously enacted are geared towards the
promotion of equality. RA 6725 amended the Labor Code in order to strengthen the
prohibition of discrimination against women with respect to terms and conditions of
employment.” It imposes criminal liability for the willful commission of unlawful acts
of discrimination respecting terms of compensation and career opportunities. We
also have RA 7277 otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons.
Under this law, disabled persons should have the same rights as other people to
take their proper place in society and the State should exert all efforts to remove all
social, cultural, economic, environmental and attitudinal barriers that are prejudicial
to disabled persons.” It also prohibits and penalizes acts of discrimination against
disabled persons in terms of employment’, riding public transportation"®, and using
public accommodations and services"'

While these pieces of legislation are excellent means to curb discrimination
against women and persons with disability, there are still other sectors of Philippine
society which suffer from oppression and maltreatment. At present, acts of
discrimination towards certain groups are still prevalent as shown in some news
articles

* In 2003, a Manobo family were forced out of their ancestral land
Accordingly, they were unduly discriminated because of their indigenous
ancestry"

* Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons are targeted with
physical and verbal assaults that affect their economic, cultural, social,

* Retrieved from: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

* International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights art. 2 (2)

” RA No. 6725 § 1 Discrimination Prohibited. — It shall be unlawful for any employer to discriminate against
any woman employee with respect to terms and conditions of employment solely on account of her sex.

® RA No. 7277 Magna Carta for Disabled Persons § 2

* Ibid, § 32

* Ibid. § 34

bid. § 36

* www-.humanrights.asia/news/forwarded-news/FA-19-2003



health, and other well-being. There are countless reported cases of LGBT
members suffering from discrimination in their employment"®.

* Incidents of racial profiling and discrimination against Muslims. The NBI
Western Mindanao caused public outrage for using the label ‘Muslim type’
in an artist sketch of a suspect in the Zamboanga blast"*.

* A hairdresser who was tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus
(HIV) won a labor dispute against his employer, celebrity hairstylist Ricky
Reyes, who was found guilty by a labor-management mediation court of
“discrimination and unlawful termination."°

Discrimination on account of ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sexual
orientation and/or gender identity, and HIV status directly affects the lives of the
victims. It creates a stigma which undermines not only their psychological well-being
but also deprives them of economic, political, and social rights and access to
opportunities

This measure seeks to enhance the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution
and several international declarations, prevent and criminalize various forms of
discrimination and penalize such. Any form of discrimination may be categorized as
a crime against humanity and human dignity in that several international declarations
promote the equal treatment of all people and prevent discrimination on the basis of
race, ethnicity, and other status.

Under this measure, discriminatory acts such as inflicting stigma, denial of
education, political, civil and cultural rights, right to work, access to goods and
services, and the right to organize, inflicting harm on health and well-being,
engaging in profiling, abuses by state and non-state agencies, and detention and
confinement are strictly prohibited and will be met with corresponding penalties.

In view of the foregoing circumstances, approval of this bill is fervently sought.

bi a

LUIS/RAYMUND “| \Y” F. VILLAFUERTE, JR.

* As an illustration, www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/03/28
* nttp://www.rappler.com/nation/106963-doj-investigation-muslim-type-nbi
** ttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/762454/worker-with-hiv-wins-case-vs-ricky-reyes


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Queson City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

1556

HOUSE BILL NO..

AN ACT PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF ETHNICITY, RACE,
RELIGION OR BELIEF, SEX OR GENDER OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION,
LANGUAGE, DISABILITY, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT AND OTHER FORMS
OF DISCRIMINATION AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR THE PURPOSE

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

SECTION 1. Short Title — This bill shall be known as “the Anti-Discrimination
Act of 2016.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policies — It is the policy of the State to work
actively for the elimination of all forms of discrimination that offend 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. 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
shall be defined as follows:

a. Discrimination — constitutes any distinction, exclusion, restriction or
preference or other differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based
on ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex and gender, disability, 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 also includes incitement to discriminate and harassment as
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

Employment — refers to all terms, conditions, and privileges relating to
work in public and private institution, including 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.

Indigenous Peoples include 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 non-
indigenous 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, tradition and other distinctive
cultural traits or who have, through resistance to political, social and
cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures,
became historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos;

. Profiling — means 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.

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

Vulnerable communities — refers to communities or sectors that encounter
‘stigma and discrimination based on the ground’s enumerated in Section 4.


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

Ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender or sexual orientation, civil
status, disability, educational attainment or other status that differentiates or any
form of discrimination shall be interpreted in their most common or universal
definitions and with due regard to the promotion of meaningful implementation of
non-discrimination policy.

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 — \t shall be unlawful to deny a
person enjoyment of political, civil and cultural rights based on the grounds
referred to Section 4.

c. 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 sanction, penalties harsher than customary, or
similar punishment, 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.

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

1. Deny a person, solely on the basis of the grounds in Section 4, and
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 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

Denial of rights to organize - \t 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.

Inflicting harm on health and well-being — \t 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.

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.

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 pf 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 group 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, 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 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 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 the vulnerable to
‘stigma and discrimination.

b. Diversity Programs and Policies — All government agencies, non-
government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporation,
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 sanction 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 Education, Commission on Higher Education,
Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of

s

rie


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
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 is engaged in discrimination under this Act, the Commission
shall commence a legal action in the regular court. Provided, That Any act or
omission committed against any person other than public officers and employees
under Section 5 d (1) of this Act shall be under the jurisdiction of the National Labor
Relations Commission in relation to Article 135 of the Labor Code.

The duty of the Secretary of Justice to investigate pattern or practice of
discrimination and commence legal actions under Section 44 of the Magna Carta for
Disabled Persons is hereby transferred to the Commission

The Commission on Human Rights shall 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 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 (J) and 5 (K) of this Act shall be penalized with a fine
of not less than two Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos (250,000) 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 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 an 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 Commission on
Human Rights, 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, 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 — All laws, decrees, orders, rules and
regulation 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) newspaper of general
circulation

Approved