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

18" Congress
First Regular Session

Ofice ofthe Minority Floor Leader

HOUSE BILL No. 5969

BY REP. BIENVENIDO “BENNY” M. ABANTE, JR.
AND THE MINORITY BLOC

AN ACT
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF
ETHNICITY, RACE, RELIGION OR BELIEF, SEX OR GENDER
OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION, LANGUAGE, DISABILITY,
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND OTHER FORMS OF
DISCRIMINATION, PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees equal protection for
everyone. Section 11 provides that the State “values the dignity of every
human person and guarantees full respect for human tights,” while Section
14 imposes on the State the duty to value the “role of women in nation-
building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women
and men.”

Atticle 3, Section 1 of the fundamental law states that, “[nJo person
shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor
shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.”


‘The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR),
which the Philippines is a signatory, provides that the “recognition of the
inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”
The UDHR also provides that everyone is entitled to all the rights and
freedoms without distinction of any kind such as race, color, sex or gender or
sexual orientation language, religion political or other opinion, educational
attainment, national ot social origin, birth or other status.

This bill seeks to enhance the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution
and several international declarations, prevent and criminalize various forms
of discrimination and penalize such. Any form of discrimination may be
categorized as a crime against humanity and human dignity in that several
international declarations promote the equal treatment of all people and
prevent discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, and other status.

Under this measure, discriminatory acts such as inflicting stigma, denial
of education, political, civil and cultural rights, right to work, access to goods
and services, and the right to organize, inflicting harm on health and well-
being, engaging in profiling, abuses by state and non-state agencies, and
detention and confinement are strictly prohibited and will be met with
cotresponding penalties.

‘The great Filipino statesman Jose W. Diokno once said:

“Human rights are more than just legal concepts. They are the
essence of man. Deny them, and you deny man’s humanity.”

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



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ITEENTH CONGRESS }
First Regular Session
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

5969

H.B. No.

BY REP. BIENVENIDO “BENNY” M. ABANTE, JR.
AND THE MINORITY BLOC

AN ACT
PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF ETHNICITY, RACE,
RELIGION OR BELIEF, SEX OR GENDER OR SEXUAL ORIENTATION,
LANGUAGE, DISABILITY, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, AND OTHER
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION, PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFOR,
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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-Disorimination Act of 2020.”

SECTION 2. Declaration of Policies. It is the policy of the State to work actively for the elimination of
all forms of discrimination that offend the equal protection clause of the Bill of Rights and State
obligations under human rights instruments acceded to by orientation. Towards this end,
discriminatory practices as defined herein shall be prescribed and penalized.

SECTION 3. Definition of Terms.- For the purposes of this Act, the following shall be defined as
follows:

a) Diserimination- constitutes any distinction, exclusive, restriction or preference or other
differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on ethnicity, race, religion or belief,
sex and gender, disability, or other status, which has the intention or equal footing, of
political, civil, economic, social, and cultural rights. Discrimination, which also includes
incitement to discriminate and harassment, is a result or a product of stigma.

b) Education and Training. refers to all types and levels of education, training, and other avenues
for learning and includes access thereto, the standard and quality thereof, and the
conditions under which the same is given.

©) Employment. refers to all terms, conditions, and privileges relating to work in public and
private institution, including policies, application procedures, training, incentives,
compensation, and determination of benefits or allowances, promotion, advancements
opportunities, transfer and dismissal.

This definition shall apply to regular, probationary, casual, contractual, fixed-term, and
seasonal workers. In legitimate contracting arrangements, the contractor/ subcontractor
shall be deemed the employer of the contractual employee.

) Indigenous Peoplesinclude Peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of their
descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the time of conquest or


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colonization, ot 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, cultural and political Institutions, but who may have been displaced from their
traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains;

Indigenous Peoples also refers to a group of people or homogenous societies identified
by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as organized
community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who have, under claims
of ownership since time immemorial, occupied, possessed and utilized such territories,
sharing common bonds of language, customs, tradition and other distinctive cultural traits
or who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization,
genous religions and cultures, became historically differentiate from the majority

©) Profiling: means relying on the prohibited grounds of discrimination in subjecting a person
or group of persons to investigatory activities, which include unnecessary, unjustified,
illegal and degrading searches, questioning or other investigatory activities, in determining
whether an individual is engaged in an activity presumed to be unlawful, immoral, or
socially unacceptable.

) Stigma- refers to the dynamic process of devaluation that significantly discredits an
individual in the eyes of others. When stigma is acted upon, the result is discrimination.

2) Vulnerable Communities- refers to communities or sectors that encounter stigma and
discrimination based on the ground’s enumerated in Section 4.

SECTION 4, Probibited Grounds for Discrimination.- For the purposes of this Act, discrimination that is
indirectly based on the actual or perceived ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender or sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender expression, civil status, disability, HIV status, or other status is
prohibited.

Ethnicity, race, religion or belief, sex or gender or sexual orientation, civil status, disability,
educational attainment or other status that differentiates or any form of discrimination shall be
interpreted in their most common or universal definitions and with due regard to the promotion
of meaningful implementation of non-discrimination policy.

SECTION 5. Disoriminatory Acts- The following Acts shall be prohibited:

A. Inflitingstigma- it shall be unlawful for any person to commit any facts that promote and
encourage stigma based on the grounds referred to in Section 4. Content in the media, in
educational textbooks, or in other medium that aims to inflict stigma is likewise prohibited.

B. Denial of Politica, civil, and cultural rights it shall be unlawful to deny a person enjoyment of
political, civil and cultural rights based on the grounds referred to Section 14,

C.. Denial of right to education — it is unlawful for any person to:

1. Refuse admission or expel a person from any educational or training institution on
the basis of the grounds defined in Section 4, without prejudice to the right of
educational or training institutions to determine the academic qualifications of their
students or trainees;

2. Impose disciplinary sanction, penalties harsher than customary, or similar
punishment, requirements, restrictions, or prohibitions that infringe on the rights of
the students on the basis of the grounds identified in Sec. 4; and

‘This prohibition extends to acts committed against a student or trainee to discriminate his
or her parents or legal guardians based on grounds referred to in Section 4.


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Denial of right to work- it is unlawful for any person to:

1. Use the grounds in Section 4 or require the disclosure thereof in the selection,

promotion, and termination of workers, and in the determination of compensation,

training, incentives, privileges, benefits or allowances, as well as other terms and

conditions of employment;

2. Deny employment in government institutions, including police and military service,
based directly or indirectly on the grounds referred to in Section 4;

3, Refuse to enter into contract or agreement with persons or group of person based
solely or partly on the grounds provided in Sec. 4; and

4. Deny an application for or revoke professional license issued by the government
directly or indirectly due to the grounds included in Section 4.

. Denial of acces fo goods and servce- it is unlawful for any person to:

1. Deny a person, solely based on the basis of the grounds in Sec. 4, and goods and
services available to the general public, such as but not limited to private and public
insurance, housing and other forms of accommodation, medical and clinical services;

2, Refuse to entry to evict a person from any establishment, facilities, or utilities that are
‘open to the general public, such as but not limited to restaurants, bars, hotels,
shopping malls, solely or partly on the basis of the grounds listed in Section 4;

3. Cause undue and unjust deferral of services or provision of inferior services to persons
due to the grounds in Section 4; and

‘There is discrimination if the acts above are committed against organizations or groups of
persons based on the grounds identified in Section 4.

Denial of rights to organize- it shall be unlawful to prohibit, prevent, or revoke the
accreditation, formal recognition, and/or registration of any organization, group, political
party, institution or establishment, in educational institutions, workplaces, communities,
and other settings, based partly or solely on grounds provided for in Section 4.

Discrimination is also committed when additional requirements beyond the customary are
imposed directly or indirectly due to the grounds stipulated in Section 4.

. Inflcting harm on health and well-being- it shall be unlawful to subject any person, without

consent, to any unnecessary medical or physical examination, psychological treatment,
faith based practices, and other similar procedures based solely or partly on any of the
grounds referred to in Section 4 that aim to change identity or physical attributes or impose
behavior of expressions.

Engaging in profiling it shall be illegal for any person, including members of the military and
law enforcement agencies, to engage in profiling based solely or partly on the grounds
included in Section 4.

Abuses by State and Non State actors- it shall be unlawful for any government agencies,
including local government units, police, military, and immigration, to harass verbally or
physically, to curtail freedom of movement, or to extort from a person or a group of
persons on the basis of the grounds stipulated in Section 4. This prohibition applies to
similar abuses committed by non-state actors.

Detention and confinement ~it shall be unlawful to detain and confine a person or group of
persons based directly or indirectly on the grounds under Section 4.

Other analogous cincumstancs- Any analogous acts which have the effect or purpose of
impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment, or exercise of the person’s human
sights and fundamental freedoms are also prohibited.


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SECTION 6. Liabiliy- Any person, natural or juridical, or their representatives, including
goverment, government-owned and controlled corporations, Institutions or company, who
commits any of the acts under Section 5, shall be liable under this Act.

Any person, natural or juridical, or their representatives, who requests, instructs, induces
encourages, authorizes, tolerates, of assists another to commit any of the acts under Section 5 shall
be principally liable under this Act.

SECTION 7. Programs to Promote Non-Diserimination and Diversity. ~ The State shall endeavor to
climinate all forms of discrimination and shall therefore pursue initiatives and programs that seeks
to enable an environment free of stigma and discrimination. It shall direct the machinery and
resources of the State to ensure non-discrimination and promote equality and shall encourage
sectors of the society to engage and participate in these efforts. It shall ensure the establishment of

the following programs:

8) Social Protection Program. ‘The national government shall implement social protection
measures for communities affected by the vulnerable to stigma and discrimination.

b) Diversity Programs and Poles All government agencies, non-government agencies,
government-owned and controlled corporation, private companies, public and private
‘educational institutions, and other entities shall establish diversity programs to ensure that
discrimination and abuse are prevented. They shall also create an internal redress
mechanism to address cases of discrimination and grant administrative remedies or
sanction for such cases.

‘The Civil Service Commission, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of
Interior and Local Government, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of
Education, and Commission on Higher Education, TESDA, Department of Justice,
Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Health shall ensure the implementation
of this section.

Failure of the above agencies to ensure the implementation of this provision shall be
deemed refusal to address discrimination and shall be penalized as analogous act of

discrimination.

SECTION 8. Duties and Commission on Human Rights‘The Commission shall investigate and prosecute
on its owh or on complaint by any person acts or omissions violating this Act. If the Commission
has reasonable cause to believe that any person or group is engaged in discrimination under this
‘Act, the Commission shall commence a legal action in the regular court.

‘The Commission shall also direct the officer concerned to take appreciate action against a
public officer or employee at fault or who neglect to perform an act or discharge a duty required
under this Act, and order 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 comply with an order of the Commission 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 duty required under this act, shall be a ground for disciplinary action
against said officer.

SECTION 9. Penalties. Persons found guilty of any of the discriminatory practices under Section
5(A), 5 (B), 5(), 5(F) and 4(K) of this act shall be penalized with a fine of not less than One
Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000) but not to exceed ‘Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pesos
(P250,000) or imprisonment of two (2) years but not more than six (6) years, or both at the
discretion of the court.

Persons found guilty of any discriminatory practices under Section 5(C), 5(D), 5(G), 5(H),
5(D), 5()) and 5(K) of this Act shall be penalized with a fine of not less than Two Hundred Fifty


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Thousand (P250,000) but not to exceed Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (P500,000) or
imprisonment of six (6) years but not more than twelve (12) years, or both at the discretion of the
court.

If violator is a corporation, organization or any similar entity, the officials thereof directly
involved shall be liable therefor.

If the violator is an alien ort foreigner, he shall be deported immediately after service of
sentence without further deportation proceedings.

Persons found guilty of any of the discriminatory practices prohibited under this Act shall
also be civilly liable.

‘The Administrative remedies provided under this act do not bar prosecution or civil claims
in proper courts for an act of discrimination committed under this Act.

If any crime penalized under the Revised Penal Code is Committed in pursuit of
discrimination, the penalty provided under the Revised Penal Code shall be applied and
discrimination committed shall be considered as an aggravating circumstance.

SECTION 10. Appropriations. The initial amount of necessary to implement the provisions of this
‘Act shall be charged against the current year’s appropriation of the agencies tasked to implement
the provisions of this Act. Thereafter, such sums as maybe necessary for the continued
implementation of this Act shall be included in the Annual General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 11. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The Commission on Human Rights, Civil Service
Commission, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and Local
Government, The Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Education, Commission on
Higher Education, TESDA, Department of Justice, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department
of Health, Commission on Indigenous Peoples, and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos
shall promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations within sixty (60) days from the
effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 12. Separability Clause- Any portion or Provision of this Act that may be declared
unconstitutional or invalid shall not have the effect of nullifying the other portions and provisions
hereof as long as such remaining portion or provision can still subsist and be given effect in their
entirety.

SECTION 13. Repealing Clause- All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulation or parts thereof
inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or modifies accordingly.

SECTION 14. Effetiity- This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official
Gazette or in at least two (2) newspaper of general circulation.

Approved: