Angara seeks comprehensive law vs discrimination

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Sonny Angara is pushing for the passage of a measure that seeks to eliminate all forms of discrimination.

While the Philippines has come a long way in terms of being an open and equitable society, Angara said there is still a lot more to be done to totally eliminate all forms of discrimination.

 “Discrimination remains a problem be it for women, children, persons with disabilities or the LGBTQ community. We are currently enjoying remarkable economic growth, but while there is still discrimination taking place, we cannot call ourselves a truly progressive nation,” he said.

Angara filed Senate Bill 137 or the proposed Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Act of 2019 to cover as wide a range of discriminatory practices as possible.

The measure lists 13 “acts of discrimination” that covers a broad spectrum of actions and the consequences of these on the affected parties.

As a general rule, discrimination based on these protected attributes – age, racial or ethnic origin, religious belief, political inclination or conviction, social class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expressions, marital or relationship status, disability, HIV status, health status or medical history, language, physical features or other status – is prohibited.

Under the measure, it will be deemed illegal for any person to commit any acts that promote and encourage stigma. This includes content in the media and educational textbooks.

No person will be denied his political, civil and cultural rights, and a person cannot be refused admission, denied honors or scholarships or be expelled from any educational institution on the basis of the protected attributes.

It will also be illegal to deny the right to expression, whether it is in the form of speech, deportment, dress, bodily characteristics or choice of name.