Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No._ 234

Introduced by Representative GERALDINE B. ROMAN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Bill seeks to define, prohibit and penalize situations and practices wherein
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity occur. It also aims
to protect members of the LGBT community and guarantee their rights as citizens of
the Republic of the Philippines and their rights as human beings.

Although it is claimed the Philippine society is tolerant and accepting of
members of the LGBT community, in practice and in terms of legal protection, they are
no specific national laws that address this kind of discrimination from which this sector
of society suffers. Although the very Preamble of the Philippine Constitution enshrines
“equality” among the core values of our Republic, there is no law which enables and
guarantees this provision for the members of the LGBT community.

As a result, members of the LGBT community are treated unjustly and
experience inequality in diverse situations such as the workplace, the family, schools,
social and leisure venues, sports and business. More adversely, members of this
community have also suffered hate crimes leading to their loss of dignity, if not life

and limb without the protection of the laws that faithfully reflect the true nature of the
crime or violation,


It is the hope of this proposed law to put an end to this situation of non-
protection and neglect, while upholding the fundamental rights and human dignity of
members of the LGBT community towards the attainment of an inclusive society
where all citizens are equal

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

oe Miva
ERALDINE B, ROMAN


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. ue

Introduced by Representative GERALDINE B. ROMAN

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 House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the Anti-discrimination based on
SOGIE".

SEC. 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
religious convictions. In all matters, the best interest of children shall be paramount.

SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. —As used in this Act:

b)

°)

d)

¢)

8)

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;

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;
Gender Expression refers to the way a person communicates gender identity to
others through behavior, clothing, hairstyles, communication or speech pattern, or
body characteristics;

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;

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;

LGBT Community refers to the collective of persons who are male and female
homosexuals (gays and lesbians, respectively), bisexual, and transgender;
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

) 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.

SEC. 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, including military service, 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;

©) 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;

¢) 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 or gender identity or 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 the
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 constituenci

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;

1) Engaging in public speech, except religious speech (remarks and comments made in
the context of a religious service, ceremony and activity), 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 (1) unnecessary, unjustified, illegal, or degrading searches to determine
whether an individual is engaged in an activity presumed to be unlawful, immoral, or
socially unacceptable; (2) 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;


©) 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.

SEC. 5. Privacy Rights. — No person shall be burdened, prejudiced, or prosecuted by reason
of the exercise of the right to personal privacy.

SEC. 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 Act or 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.

SEC. 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.

Ifa 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
Ithree (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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 9. Redress mechanisms for SOGIE-related cases
a) Inclusion of SOGIE Concerns in All Police Station Acti
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

ities and Services. — The

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 concemed 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 CHR 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.

SEC. 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
nondiscrimination 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; and

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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 12. Anti-discrimination Oversight Committee - For the effective implementation of this
Act, there shall be created a Congressional Oversight Committee, hereinafter referred to as
the Anti-discrimination Oversight Committee, within sixty (60) days after the enactment of
this Act. The Anti-discrimination 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 Anti-discrimination 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 Anti-discrimination 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 Anti-discrimination Committee shall
come from the Secretariat personnel of the Senate and the House of Representatives
committees concerned.

‘The Anti-discrimination 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 Anti-discrimination Oversight Committee shall conduct an audit of national and
local pol
expression, and shall submit a report to Congress, the Office of the President, and the

that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity and

Supreme Court, on this subject.


The Anti-discrimination Oversight Committee shall cease to exist six (6) years
afler its organization.

SEC. 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 concems,
shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations for the effective implementation of the
provisions of this Act.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 15. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations, or parts
thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 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,