of the ife -fretarp
•22 AUG -4 P6 26
RECEIVED by-
nineteenth CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE 
S. B. NO. 1043
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT PROTECTING THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE 
TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES 
GUARANTEED UNDER SECTION 5, ARTICLE III OF THE 
1987 CONSTITUTION AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
EXPLANATORY NOTE
Our society is held together not only by law and its enforcement, but 
more importantly, by those who voluntarily obey the established laws as 
motivated by their internalized norms of righteous or correct behavior. Since 
time immemorial, religious belief has been a vital influence in man’s knowledge 
of right and wrong and produces voluntary compliance to mankind.
However, even at recent times, it is undeniable that attacks on persons 
based on their religious identities have been recorded. In a 2018 study by Pew 
Research Center, 185 out of 198 countries reported at least one (1) incident of 
harassment against a religious group.1 Christians and Muslims experienced 
harassment in more countries compared to other groups, with Christians 
reportedly harassed in 145 countries, while Muslims were reportedly harassed 
in 139 countries.2 Additionally, Buddhists had the largest increase in number of 
states where they were harassed for religious reasons - from 19 to 24 countries 
- while religiously unaffiliated persons, including atheists, had the opposite, 
from 23 countries in 2017 to 18 countries in 2018.3
1 Pew Research Center, Harassment of religious groups continue to be reported in more than 90% of countries,
accessible at httDs://www.pewresearch.ora/reliqion/2020/11/10/harassment-of-reliqious-qroups-continues-to-be: 
reported-in-more-than-90-of-countries/#fn-33876-29 {last accessed August 4, 2022).
2 Id.
2 Id.


Having recognized the significance of religion in human history and in 
view of factors such as the foregoing, democratic countries all over the world 
have long been implementing and improving substantial laws to protect and 
promote religious freedom. Examples of these are the Religious Freedom 
Restoration Act of the United States of America, the Maintenance of Religious 
Harmony Act of Singapore, and the International Religious Freedom Act of 
Canada - to name a few.
The Philippines, however, has not yet enacted a law that will give 
substance to the right of the people to religious freedom as guaranteed under 
Article III, Section 5 of our Constitution. Specifically, Section 5 states: “No law 
shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free 
exercise thereof The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and 
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No 
religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.”
In view of the foregoing, this bill seeks to provide for an implementing 
law that will protect and promote the right of Filipinos to religious freedom, 
subject to certain exceptions. With this measure, Filipinos will be encouraged 
to pursue spiritual growth by affording them the freedom to conduct their lives 
in accordance with their faith or religious belief without the fear of persecution, 
threat, or punishment.
Moreover, this measure also aims to promote a free market of religious 
ideas in the country where no religion is suppressed or quelled over the other. 
By leveling the playing field for the propagation of different religions, Filipinos 
are afforded the full spectrum of varying faiths and the freedom to choose the 
beliefs that they will subscribe to. This, in turn, will counter religious fanaticism 
which gives rise to many societal problems in the country.
Thus, the immediate passage of this bill is earnestly sought.
SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVAj,,/


NINETEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE 
S. B. N0JO43
ot tljC ci'ft.irp
•22 AUG “4 P6 26
RECEIVED BY:
Introduced by SENATOR JOEL VILLANUEVA
AN ACT PROTECTING THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE 
TO FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES GUARANTEED 
UNDER SECTION 5, ARTICLE III OF THE 1987 CONSTITUTION 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
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SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Magna Carta 
on Religious Freedom Act"
SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is the declared policy of the State to 
protect and uphold the fundamental and inalienable rignt of every person to 
freely choose and exercise one's religion and beliefs, and to act and live 
according to one's conscience, as guaranteed under Section 5, Article III of the 
Constitution and other international human rights instruments, including the 
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and 
Political Rights and the Declaration on the Eliminatk)n on All Forms of 
Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religion and Belief, to which the State 
is a party or that it adheres to.
The right of every Filipino to profess, practice and propagate religious 
beliefs must always be recognized, respected, allowed, and protected.
Towards this end, the State must ensure that no act of the government 
or any of its agencies, instrumentalities, officers, or employees shall burden, 
curtail, impinge, or encroach on the person’s right to exercise one’s religious 
belief, freedom, and liberty of conscience. In addition, the government must 
also prohibit any act by a person, natural or juridical, or any group of persons, 
that burdens, curtails, impinges or encroaches on the said right.
SEC. 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act:


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a) 
Atheism refers to the denial of the existence of a personal God or 
deity, and shall be treated as a form of religion for the purpose of 
entitlement to the protection of freedom of religion and conscience;
b) 
Child refers to any person below eighteen (18) years of age, or
older but who is incapable of taking care of oneself, as defined 
under the Republic Act No. 7610, otherwise known as the Special 
Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and 
Discrimination Act, as amended;
c) 
Conscience refers to a person’s sense or conviction of right or
wrong, whether or not such sense or conviction comes from a well- 
defined religious belief;
d) 
Discrimination refers to any distinction, exclusion, restriction or
preference on the basis of a person’s religion or conscience and 
which has the purpose or effect of burdening, curtailing, impinging 
or encroaching on the person’s right to freedom of exercise of 
religion and liberality of conscience;
e) 
Expression of religious belief or conscience refers to the
outward or overt manifestation of one’s religious belief or 
conscience, whether by speech, or action, sense or conviction of 
right or wrong, whether or not such sense or conviction comes 
from a well-defined religious belief;
f) 
Guardian refers to a legal guardian or any person, other than the
biological parents, who takes the responsibility of taking care of 
the personal and property rights of a child;
g) 
Religion refers to a particular system of belief, faith, or “paniniwala",
concerning God or a Higher Authority, whether personal or 
otherwise, or a transcendent or divine deity or deities, whether in 
the singular or plural, as well as the recognition, worship, 
obedience, or submission to said God or Higher Authority, either 
by a fixed dogma, creed, set of doctrines or belief, or code of 
conduct or lifestyle, or by an individual’s sense of appropriate or 
proper behavior, code, or lifestyle in relation to that God or Higher 
Authority;
h) 
Religious belief refers to a particular belief or set of beliefs held by
a particular religion, or by an individual person;
i) 
Religious Freedom refers to the freedom to change, adopt, or
retain one’s religion or belief; or freedom from coercion that would 
impair one’s freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one’s 
choice, and to manifest one’s religion or belief in worship, 
observance, practice and teaching, in public or private, either 
individually or in community with others; and


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j) Religious group refers to a church, religious entity, religious 
organization or group of persons who have formed together into a 
congregation for the worship of a Higher Authority according to the 
group’s established doctrines and ceremonies, whether or not the 
same is registered with the government. For purposes of this Act, 
the group does not need to be registered to be entitled to 
recognition as a religious group.
SEC. 4. Freedom of Religion and Conscience Protected. - The right 
of every person to freedom of religion and liberty of conscience, as well as the 
free exercise or expression thereof, as defined and enumerated in this Act, 
shall be protected by the State. It shall not be denied, burdened, regulated, or 
curtailed even if it is a result of the rule of general applicability of existing laws, 
except in the cases provided in Section 6 hereof.
SEC. 5. Exception Clause. - The right of every person to freedom of 
religion, or the free exercise thereof and liberality of conscience can be denied, 
regulated, burdened, or curtailed only if it can be demonstrated that:
a) 
The free exercise of religious freedom or conscience of a religious 
group or individual results in violence, or inflicts or poses to inflict 
direct or indirect physical or material harm or danger on other 
people, or infringe on their own freedom of religion or conscience; 
and
b) 
It is necessary to protect public safety, public order, health, 
property and good morals.
Further, the State shall ensure that in burdening, regulating, or curtailing 
religious freedom or freedom of conscience in the circumstances 
abovementioned, the State shall adopt the least restrictive means. It shall also 
ensure that the measures taken do not become a basis, reason, or excuse for 
the defamation, discrimination, or infliction of physical harm, hostility, violence, 
war, or dissemination of propaganda or advocacy against any such person or 
group of persons whose expression of religious freedom or conscience is 
subject of burden, regulation, or curtailment under conditions stated in this Act.
SEC. 6. Right to Choose a Religion or Religious Group. - The State 
shall protect and promote the right of a person to freely choose one’s religion, 
belief or religious group.
SEC. 7. Right to Exercise or Express Religious Belief, Practices, 
Acts or Activities. - The State shall protect and promote the right of a person 
to freely profess, exercise, manifest, or express religious belief, practices, acts 
or activities, either individually or in community with others and in public or 
private, without fear of discrimination and punishment, subject to exceptions 
provided under this Act.
SEC. 8. Right to Act in Accordance with Conscience. - The State 
shall similarly protect and promote the right of a person to act, without any form


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of coercion, in accordance with one’s conscience; Provided, That the act does 
not inflict physical or material harm to any person, does not infringe on the 
religious freedom of others or is not contrary to morals, health, property, public 
order and safety.
SEC. 9. Right to Propagate Religious Beliefs.-The State shall protect 
and promote the right of a person to propagate one’s religious belief without 
any form of coercion subject to the exceptions provided under this Act.
SEC. 10. Right to Disseminate Religious Publications. - The State 
shall protect and promote the right of a person to disseminate religious 
information or publication, in whatever form, kind or nature and through any 
platform, such as broadcast, print, social media or other online platforms, 
subject to the exceptions provided under this Act.
SEC. 11. Right of Religious Worship and Ceremonies. - The State 
shall protect and promote the right to religious worship and ceremonies, 
including that of indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples, free 
from discrimination, punishment, interruption, disturbance, violence, and 
threats thereto, subject to the exceptions provided under this Act.
SEC. 12. Right to Organizational Independence. - The State shall 
protect and promote the right of a religious group to manage its own affairs 
independent from political influence or control, subject to existing laws, rules 
and regulations, and the exceptions provided under this Act.
SEC. 13. Right to Freedom against Discrimination in Employment.
-The State shall protect and promote the right of a person to equal opportunity 
and treatment, and non-discrimination in employment, by virtue of one’s 
religious affiliation or belief.
SEC. 14. Right to Freedom against Discrimination in Educational 
Institutions. - The State shall protect and promote the right of a person to be 
free from discrimination on the basis of one’s religion, religious belief, religious 
group or moral sense or conviction in any educational institution: Provided, That 
educational institutions that are founded on religious beliefs or tenets shall be 
entitled to standards or codes of behavior pursuant to their religious beliefs and 
disciplines.
SEC. 15. Right of Companies or Businesses to be Founded on 
Religious Belief - It shall be the right of business people and founders or 
operators of business outfits to establish the companies, offices, or operations, 
according to certain tenets of religious beliefs: Provided, That the same are 
contained in writing and form part of the company’s vision and mission 
statements, in which case, such company or outfit shall be accorded the 
guarantees provided for under this Act.
SEC. 16. Right of Parents or Legal Guardians to Rear Children. -
The State shall protect and promote the right of parents or guardians to be at 
liberty in rearing their children according to their religion, belief, or conscience:


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Provided, That a child who comes to the age of majority shall be respected in 
his or her choice of religious belief: Provided, further, That in such a case, 
parental authority under existing laws, such as the Civil Code of the 
Philippines, the Family Code, or the Child And Youth Welfare Code as may be 
applicable, shall not be deemed diminished in any way.
SEC. 17. Prohibited Acts. - It shall be unlawful for any person, natural 
and or juridical, to:
a) 
Compel a person, 
by means of 
force, threat, intimidation,
punishment, or undue influence, to choose or not to choose a 
particular religious group, or to subscribe to a particular religious 
belief: Provided, That the practice of certain religious groups or 
faiths of requiring either or both couples to be a member thereof 
before marriage may be officiated shall not be prohibited;
b) 
Threaten a person with harm, punishment, or 
exert undue
influence or pressure in order to 
prevent such person from
changing one’s religion or belief or from transferring from one 
religious group to another;
c) 
Compel a person, 
by means of 
force, threat, intimidation,
punishment, or undue influence, to commit an act which is in 
violation of one’s religious belief or conscience;
d) 
Defame, harass, humiliate or offend a person by reason of one’s 
religious belief or the practice of such belief;
e) 
Obstruct, hinder or prevent the flow of and access to religious 
information;
f) 
Hinder or prevent a person from exercising any act that is an 
expression of one’s religious belief;
g) 
Perform or threaten to perform any act that constitutes or 
promotes stigma, hate or persecution of a particular religious 
belief, religious practice, or religious community;
h) 
Perform or threaten to perform any act that effectively impedes, 
obstructs, prohibits, prevents or inflicts any harm or threatens to 
cause harm, or in any manner, prevents any person from freely 
and lawfully expressing and exercising one’s religious beliefs;
i) 
Compel a person, by means of force, threat, intimidation, 
punishment or undue influence to lawfully express and exercise 
religious beliefs against one’s will;
j) 
Obstruct, hinder, cause undue delay or unjustifiably refuse the 
production, or the valid and free distribution of religious 
publications: Provided, That such publications do not contradict


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the religious beliefs of the publishing company, and such 
publication does not violate any existing law;
k) 
Exert undue influence over the decisions made by any leader or 
leaders of a religious community through monetary, political, 
social and personal gains as well as parochial interest;
l) 
Deny employment to qualified applicants solely on the basis of 
religion;
m) 
Sever or terminate employment of a person solely on the basis of 
one’s adherence to religious belief; and
n) 
Commit any other act that curtails or violates the rights of a person 
to religious freedom as provided for under this Act.
SEC. 18. Penalties. - Any person, natural or juridical, who violates 
Section 17 of this Act shall suffer the following penalties:
a) 
For the first violation:
(1) 
For a private individual - a fine of not less than One Hundred
Thousand Pesos (Phpl00,000.00), but not exceeding Five 
Hundred 
Thousand 
Pesos 
(Php500,000.00), 
or
imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day, 
but not more than eight (8) years, or both, at the discretion of 
the court; and
(2) 
For a juridical person - a fine of not less than One Hundred
Thousand Pesos (Php100,000.00), but not exceeding Five 
Hundred 
Thousand 
Pesos 
(Php500,000.00), 
or
imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day, 
but not more than eight (8) years, or both, at the discretion of 
the court, on the official or employee directly liable and 
responsible for the prohibited act.
b) 
For any subsequent violation:
(1) 
For a private individual - a fine of not less than Five Hundred 
Thousand Pesos (Php500,000.00), but not exceeding Two 
Million Pesos (Php2,000,000.00), or imprisonment of not less 
than eight (8) years, but not more than ten (10) years, or both, 
at the discretion of the court; and
(2) 
For a juridical person - a fine of not less than Five Hundred 
Thousand Pesos (Php500,000.00), but not exceeding Two 
Million Pesos (P2,000,000.00), or imprisonment of not less 
than eight (8) years, but not more than ten (10) years, or both, 
at the discretion of the court, on the official or employee 
directly liable and responsible for the prohibited act.


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SEC. 19. Prohibition Against the Establishment of a Religion by the 
State. - Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect or diminish, in any way, 
the meaning and intent of Section 5, Article III of the Constitution, which 
prohibits the State from establishing any religion.
SEC. 20. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - Within ninety (90) 
days after the effectivity of this Act, the Department of Justice (DOJ), Department 
of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Education (DepEd), 
Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Legal Education Board (LEB), 
Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), 
National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and the National 
Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) shall, in coordination with concerned 
government agencies and in consultation with other stakeholders, shall jointly 
formulate the rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this Act. The 
Chairperson of the CHR and the Secretary of the DOJ shall act as co- 
Chairpersons of the body that shall formulate the IRR.
SEC. 21. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part hereof is 
declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remainder of this Act or any provision 
not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.
SEC. 22. Repealing Clause.-Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, administrative order, rule or regulation 
contrary to or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed, 
modified or amended accordingly.
SEC. 23. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days 
after Its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of 
general circulation.
Approved,