Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE PM VARGAS 
AN ACT 
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL 
ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION (SOGIE) 
AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
For almost two decades, the SOGIE Equality Bill (formerly the Anti-
Discrimination Bill) has been continuously refiled and developed in Congress. 
Since 2000, it has changed and improved to reflect more the struggles of the 
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in the 
Philippines, and other Filipinos of diverse sexual orientation, gender identity 
and expression (SOGIE). It affirms that the LGBTQ+ community deserve the 
same rights denied to them by the State for so long – the right to non-
discrimination. 
In the 17th Congress, House Bill 4982 entitled “An Act Prohibiting 
Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or 
Expression (SOGIE) and Providing Penalties Therefor” became the 
consolidated document of several House bills from legislators seeking to end 
discrimination on the basis of SOGIE. It received overwhelming support from 
legislators, leading to its passage on the 3rd Reading and its transmittance to 
the Senate. 
There has been a growing number of local government units in the 
country that have adopted and are implementing ordinances that prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of SOGIE. Unfortunately, much remains to be 
done. The current situation leaves a significant majority of Filipinos (around 
75 percent), or close to 75 million people, vulnerable to SOGIE-based 
August 11, 2025
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discrimination.1 Thus, a national legislation protecting all Filipinos from 
discrimination on the basis of SOGIE is urgent and necessary. 
Discrimination exists in schools, in the workplace, in public spaces, 
and even within families. As such, this has pushed LGBTQ+ people to the 
margins and has prevented them from accessing equal opportunities for all. 
LGBTQ+ youth are often victims of bullying in schools. There are cases where 
people of diverse SOGIE are not allowed education or employment because of 
their identities. It is indeed a violation of their human rights if stigma and 
discrimination continue to persist. 
Thus, with the growing support of the public and legislators to support 
the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, promote equal rights, and protect all 
Filipinos from discrimination on the basis of SOGIE, there is a need to change 
how our institutions treat people of diverse sexual orientation, gender 
identity, and expression. This measure shall offer light to the growing problem 
of stigma, discrimination, hate, and prejudice in the country. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly 
sought.  
REP. PM VARGAS   
Fifth District, Quezon City 


Republic of the Philippines 
House of Representatives 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _______ 
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE PM VARGAS 
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 the House of Representatives of the Philippines 
in Congress assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “SOGIE Equality 
Act”. 
SECTION 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 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 
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religious convictions. In all matters, the best interest of children shall be 
paramount. 
 
SECTION 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 pattern, 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; 
e. 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; 
f. 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 typical binary notions of male 
or female bodies, all of which are natural bodily variations along a 
spectrum; 
i. 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  
j. 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. 
 
SECTION 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 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; 
c. 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; 
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 and gender identity and 
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 establishments will make 
available their existing toilets with facilities designated for persons 
with disabilities also as gender neutral toilets. Provided finally, 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; 
j. 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;  
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; 
l. Engaging in public speech, except religious 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; 
o. 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; 
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. 
 
SECTION 5. Privacy Rights. – No person shall be burdened, prejudiced, or 
prosecuted by reason of the exercise of the right to personal privacy. 
 
SECTION 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 Actor 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. 
 
SECTION 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 the violation or offense is committed by a corporation, partnership, 
association or other juridical entities, the penalty provided for in this section 
shall be imposed upon the directors, officers, employees or other officials or 
persons therein responsible for the offense without prejudice to the civil 
liabilities arising from the criminal offense; 
 
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. 
 
SECTION 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. 
 
SECTION 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 LGBTQ++ 
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 prosecutor’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. 
 
SECTION 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. 
 
SECTION 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. 
 
SECTION 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 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. 
 
SECTION 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. 
 
SECTION 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. 
 
SECTION 15. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and 
regulations, or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or 
modiﬁed accordingly. 
 
SECTION 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,