FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session

SENATE -

Senate Bill No. 1213 ~. SEEMED SY fi...

Introduced by Senator Manny Villar

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Philippine Constitution mandates nondiscrimination, as may be
reflected in Article Ill, Section 1 of the Bill of Rights. Therefore, the State is duty-
bound to safeguard its citizens against all forms of discriminatory acts in
everyday life - in business establishments, schools and at work, in order to
promote equal protection and elimination of stereotypes and prejudices.

Likewise, it is the policy of the State to maintain peace and order in our
country, and if it is any lesson upon us, the recently concluded issue on the
MOA-AD gave us a sampling of how passionate our brothers and sisters from
Mindanao are about their freedom, including their freedom from being
discriminated.

This legislation provides for a means by which peace can be fostered in all
three major islands of the Philippines, with emphasis on Mindanao where
Muslims constitute a large portion of the population. By providing for a law that
prohibits discrimination against people of different ethnic and religious
backgrounds, peace and harmony can be ultimately achieved.

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

MANNY WILLAR

18 UL 12 P16


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FIFTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE ) .
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

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Senate Bill No. 1218 ow

Introduced by Senator Manny Villar

_ ANACT
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PERSONS ON ACCOUNT OF
ETHNIC ORIGIN AND/OR RELIGIOUS BELIEF

Be 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 as "The Anti-
Discrimination Act of 2010."

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is the policy of the State to:

a) Maintain peace and order, protect life, liberty, and property, and
promote the general ‘welfare for the enjoyment by all people the
blessings of democracy;

b) Promote a just and dynamic social order that will insure the prosperity
and independence of the nation and free the people from poverty
though policies that provide adequate social services, promote full
employment, a rising standard of living, and an improved quality of life
for all;

c) Recognize and promote the rights of indigenous cultural communities
within the framework of national unity and development;

d) Give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and
enhance the right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social,
economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by
equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.

SECTION 3. Meaning of Discrimination. — The term “discrimination” as
used in this Act shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the
basis of ethnic origin or religious affiliation or beliefs, which has the effect or
purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by them
of their human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field, especially including but not limited to,
employment, livelihood, housing, education and basic services.



SECTION 4. Definition of Terms. —
1) Ethnic origin includes race, national origin and ethnolinguistics origin

a. Indigenous People shall, as provided under Section 3(h), Chapter II of
Republic Act No. 8374 otherwise known as “The Indigenous People's
Rights Act of 1997" (IPRA of 1997), refer to a group of people who are
tegarded 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, cultura! and_ political
institutions, but who may have been displaced from their traditional
domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains;

b. Moro People refers to the collective people belonging to the thirteen
Ethno-linguistic groupings, who are largely of the Islamic faith

2)

Muslims refer to those who are followers of the Islamic Faith, whether
from birth or by conversion.

3

Religious belief refers to the strong and profound belief affecting a
way of life; a belief is religious not because a religious group professes
that belief, but because the individual sincerely holds that belief with
the strength of traditional religious views.

4)

Accommodation as mentioned herein includes a house, apartment,
condominium, town houses, flat, hotel, motel, boarding house, hostel,
and dormitories.

SECTION 5. Acts of Discrimination. - Discrimination is committed when

a person treats another less favorably on the basis of ethnic origin and/or
religious affiliation or belief than the person treats or would treat another without
that attribute, or with a different attribute, on the same or similar circumstances in
employment, education, housing, and delivery of basic services, to wit:

a.) Discrimination in Employment— An employer or his/her agents
must not discriminate against an applicant for a job by refusing
employment to the person or imposing on that person onerous terms
and conditions on the basis of his/her ethnic background and/or
religious affiliation or beliefs. Likewise, an employer or his/her agents
shall be liable for discrimination by denying or limiting access of the
employee to opportunities for promotion, transfer or training, or to any
other benefits connected with the employment or by dismissing the
employee, or by subjecting the employee to any other detriment on the
basis of ethnic background and/or religious affiliation or beliefs.

b.) Discrimination in Education. — A public or private educational
institution, their officers or employees, or any person acting on their
behalf shall be liable for discrimination by refusing, or failing to accept,
another for application for admission as a student or by denying or
limiting access of a student to any benefit or privilege provided by said
institution, or by expelling the student, or by subjecting the student to
any other detriment on the basis of ethnic background and/or religious
affiliation or belief.


c.) Discrimination in the Delivery of Goods and Services. — Any
person who, by reason of ethnic background and/or religious affiliation
or belief, shall be liable for discrimination if the person refuses to
provide goods or services to another, or imposes onerous terms on
which goods or services are provided, or subjects another to any other
detriment in connection with the provision of goods or services to him
or her.

d.) Discrimination in Accommodation. — A person or his/her agents
shall be liable for discrimination by refusing, or failing to accept or
process, the application for accommodation of another by providing
onerous terms and conditions not similar to other applicants, or by
subjecting another to any other detriment in connection with the
provision of accommodation to that person on the basis of ethnic
background and/or religious belief.

e.) Any other analogous act which has the effect or purpose of impairing
cor nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise of the person's
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic,
social, cultural, civil spheres, on the basis of ethnic background or
religious belief.

SECTION 6. Persons Liable. - Any person, natural or juridical, including
any government or private corporation, institution or company, who commits
discrimination against any person on account of ethnic origin and/or religious
affiliations or beliefs, as provided for above, shall be liable under this act.

Any person who requests, instructs, induces, encourages, authorizes or
assists another person to commit acts of discrimination shall also be liable under
this Act. Likewise, a person who is duty-bound to act on complaints for
discrimination under this Act but fails or refuses to do so, shall be deemed to
have sanctioned the discriminatory act, and shall consequently be held equally
liable for discrimination.

SECTION 7. Equal Opportunity — It shall be the duty of every person,
natural or juridical, public or private, to ensure that there is equal opportunity for
all persons in relating to actual or prospective employees, students, tenants,
customers or clients, and that no discriminatory acts, as defined herein is
committed by them or their agents in the areas of employment, housing,
education, and delivery of basic goods and services.

For this purpose, every agency, corporation, company, and educational
institution, as well as any other person providing employment, housing,
education, and delivery of basic goods and services, shall issue an equal
opportunity policy, including the creation of an Equal Opportunity Committee, as
provided in the next section. Failure to do so shall be deemed refusal to address
discrimination, and shall be penalized as an act of discrimination.

SECTION 8. Equal Opportunity Committees. — In order to insure the
compliance of this Act, agencies, corporations, companies and educational
institutions, whether private or public, shall create an Equal Opportunity
Committee which shall have administrative jurisdiction over cases involving
discrimination under this Act. The committee shall be tasked, among others, to
conduct the investigation of alleged cases constituting discrimination on the basis
of ethnic origin and/or religious affiliation or beliefs.



Administrative sanctions shall not be a bar to any prosecution in the
proper courts of any act of discrimination committed on the basis of ethnic origin
and/or religious affiliation or beliefs, or to any civil claims for damages caused by
said act. .

SECTION 9. Penal Clause. — Any person liable under this Act shall be
penalized by imprisonment for a period of not less than thirty days nor more than
six months and/or a fine of not less than ten thousand pesos nor more than one
hundred thousand pesos, taking into consideration the circumstances and gravity
of the offense.

SECTION 10. Duty of the Office on Mustim Affairs and the National
Commission on Indigenous Peoples. - \t shall be the duty of the Office on
Muslim Affairs (OMA) and National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) to
prevent or deter the commission of acts of discrimination and to provide the
procedures for the resolution, settlement or prosecution of acts of discrimination.
Towards this end, OMA and NCIP shall:

(a) Promulgate appropriate rules and regulations prescribing the
procedure for the investigation of discrimination cases against their
people and the administrative sanctions therefor.

(b) Ensure the creation of committees on equal opportunity in the different
agencies, corporations, companies and educational institutions,
whether private or public.

(c) Supervise the agencies, corporations, companies and educational
institutions, whether private or public, in the implementation of this Act.

SECTION 11. Separability Clause. - If any portion or provision of this Act
is declared void or unconstitutional, the remaining portions or provisions hereof
shall not be affected by such declaration.

SECTION 12. Repealing Clause. - Any provision of law or regulations
inconsistent herewith is hereby repealed, revoked, or modified accordingly.

SECTION 13. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,