a".$-..:: 
.;, 
: L 
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
1 
Second Regular Session 
) 
NOV 19 F3 35 
Introduced by Senator Manny Villar 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Philippine Constitution mandates nondiscrimination, as may be reflected in 
Article 111, 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 fkom 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. 


,
.
 
‘UJFWX tJr 
,.It. 
,tx,i+b~’iAt{F 
, : .  
FOURTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
) 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
) 
Second Regular Session 
) 
(3 
NOV ’19 p3 ?Ei 
S E N A T E  
1 
Introduced by Senator Manny Villar 
AN ACT 
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 TitZe. - This act shall be known as ”The Anti-Discrimination 
Act of 2008.” 
SECTION 2. Deciaration ofPoiicy, - 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 promotes 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 cultnral 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. De$nition of Terms.- 
1) Ethnic origin includes race, national origin and ethnolinguistics origin. 
a. Indigenous People shall, as provided under Section 3(h), Chapter I1 of 
Republic Act No. 8371 otherwise known as “The Indigenous People’s Rights 
1 


Act of 1997” ( I P U  of 1997), refer to a group of people 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 cultnres, 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; 
h. Moro People refers to the collective people belonging to the thirtecn Ethno- 
linguistic groupings, who are largely of the Islamic faith. 
2) MusZims refer to those who are followers of the Islamic Faith, whether from 
birth or by conversion. 
3) Religious beliefrefers 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 
dorniitories. 
SECTION 5. Acts qf Discrimin~ntion. - Discrimination is committed when a 
person treats another less favorably on the basis of ethnic origin and/or religions 
affiliation or belief than the person treats or would treat another without that attribute, 01’ 
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 hisiher 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 hidher ethnic background and/or religious affiliation or beliefs. Likewise, 
an employer or hidher agents shall be liable for discrimination by denying or 
limiting access of the employee to opportunities for promolion, 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 studen< to any 
benefit or privilege provided by said institution, or by expelling the student, or 
by snbjecting 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 backgrorind 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 tenits 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 Accomrnodaeion. - 
A person or hisiher 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 or 
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 religions 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 andor 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 Muslim Affairs and the National 
Commission on Indigenous Peoples. - It 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: 
3 


(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 opportunityin 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, 
4