Philippines' Right to Care Act could propel LGBTQ+ rights

• Proposed law aids LGBTQ+ couples in health decisions
• Quezon City tests right-to-care card for LGBTQ+ patients
• Lawmaker says bill a first step toward equality

MANILA - A draft law in the Philippines could be the first step towards recognising same-sex partnerships, signalling a major shift in a country where Congress has rejected proposals against the discrimination of LGBTQ+ people for a quarter-century.

Party-list representative Percival Cendaña filed a measure in November last year to protect LGBTQ+ couples from stigma and discrimination in health settings.

Under the proposed Right to Care Act, patients can designate their partners through a special power of attorney to make critical health decisions and receive information on their behalf if they become incapacitated.

The bill, which is being debated in committee, includes a "right to care" card for couples that all health facilities must accept or face penalties.

Without a national law on marriage equality in the predominantly Catholic country, partners of people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity are not allowed by hospitals to act as primary caregivers and are denied a role in decision making in health emergencies.

Cendaña said that while the proposed law will not enact marriage equality, it "recognises that the relationships of LGBTQ+ people are valid."

Cendaña helped draft the Philippines' first bill against discrimination of LGBTQ+ Filipinos in 2000. Subsequent attempts to legislate such protections over the last two decades have also failed.

A current version, the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE) Equality Bill, aims to provide fair and equal access to basic social services, opportunities, healthcare, protection and justice.

However, the SOGIE bill has stalled amid fierce opposition from religious groups and some lawmakers.

"For 25 years, we've been depriving LGBTQ people of their basic fundamental rights," Cendaña told Context.

"I hope that, unlike the SOGIE Equality Bill, something as basic as right to care will not be met with too much opposition, because it is inhumane to deprive couples of the right to take care of each other," said Cendaña.

Litmus test

A right-to-care programme in Quezon City, the Philippines' most populous city, could be a litmus test for the success of the policy nationwide.

The Quezon City government launched the programme in June 2023 during a Pride festival in Manila, at that time the largest gay-rights march in Southeast Asia, attended by more than 110,000 people.

The couple Ash Musnit and Leslie Ampo-an were among the first recipients of the right-to-care card in Quezon City.

Musnit and Ampo-an, together for 18 years, formed an organisation to advocate for equal treatment of LGBTQ+ people in poor, urban areas. Musnit, a transgender man, said he has been discriminated against by his partner's family and others because of his gender.

Musnit has had trouble finding a stable job, making access to health services difficult. The right-to-care card is one of the few legal guarantees he and Ampo-an have as a couple.

"We did not have the capacity to monitor our health. Through the right-to-care card, we wanted to at least be able to decide for each other's health concerns," said Musnit.

More than 1,200 couples have registered in the programme, according to the Quezon City Gender and Development (GAD) Council, a unit of the local government.

Winning approval for the card only came after years of consultations with education and hospital officials, said GAD chair Janete Oviedo.

"Giving queer couples the right to decide for their partners' medical emergencies may be just a small thing for some, but this programme will recognise the equal rights of queer couples. This is a baby step," said Oviedo.

An ordinance from the Quezon City mayor requires all hospitals to accept the right-to-care card, Oviedo said, adding that she hopes other communities follow suit to expand the programme's coverage.

Step toward equality

Advertising executive Adrian de Guzman first proposed the idea of a right-to-care card to Quezon City officials after hearing the story of a patient who died during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and whose partner was prevented from deciding on treatment.

"I was sad to learn that there's an absence of a law that protects LGBTQ+ people and empowers them to make medical decisions for their loved ones," said de Guzman.

Initially, de Guzman's agency created a right-to-care card for hospitals and health insurance companies, but they declined to use it.

Supporters of the programme believe the card would benefit low-income couples like Musnit and Ampo-an who cannot afford legal services to draw up a power of attorney.

Cendaña said he is optimistic Congress will pass the Right to Care Act, because it helps both patients and medical professionals to identify next of kin during emergencies.

But passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill remains essential, he said.

"If we already have a bill which penalises discrimination ... that would be an important enabling policy that would open up a lot of possibilities," said Cendaña.

(Reporting by Mariejo Ramos; Editing by Ayla Jean Yackley.)