Clearing a Path for an Anti-Discrimination Law

Last February 10, the University of the Philippines College of Law Gender Law and Policy Program (UP GLPP), in partnership with The Asia Foundation and the UP Visayas (UPV), held its 2nd regional conference for Visayas and Mindanao called The Path Towards an Anti-Discrimination Law: A Regional Conference on Issues, Challenges, and Strategies in UP Visayas, Iloilo City. The aim was to build momentum for national policy change in the adoption and meaningful implementation of local-level anti-discrimination ordinances. With more than 55 attendees from local government units, Philippine National Police (PNP) officers, and civil society organization participating in the three-part dialogue, the conference featured panelists and speakers from diverse backgrounds and locations to share their expertise. Seventeen UPV College of Law scholars assisted in facilitating the conference.

In light of the slow progress of national legislation, participants explored during the first part of the conference various strategies, including local government units’ faster response time in passing ordinances, resource and knowledge sharing between organizations, and benchmarks to measure the efficiency of ongoing endeavors. Deepening the understanding of how discrimination manifests, the lens of intersectionality permeated during the second part of the conference, tackling possible solutions that ought to be included in the pursuit of the national law. In the final part of the conference, attitudes of the general population were put into focus, alongside the possible means in effectively informing the populace of the law’s goals while dispelling misconceptions.