Sen. Risa Hontiveros has filed Senate Bill 2626, or the Cagandahan Bill, to simplify the process to change entries in the legal documents of intersex Filipinos. This is the version in the Upper House of a similar bill – the House Bill No. 9555, also known as the Cagandahan Bill – that was filed in the House of Representatives/Lower House by Rep. Geraldine Roman.
The bill, according to Jeff Cagandahan, president of Intersex Philippines, Inc. (IXPI), “embodies the essence of inclusivity and respect for diversity, aiming to protect the rights and dignity of intersex individuals across the nation.”
In the Philippines, the Supreme Court of the Philippines already sided with the right to self-determination of intersex people when it released its position on this in 2008. In its decision on the Republic of the Philippines v. Jennifer Cagandahan (G.R. No. 166676), it stated that when a person is “biologically or naturally intersex, the determining factor in his gender classification would be what the individual… having reached the age of majority, with good reason thinks of his/her sex”.
Nonetheless, as stressed by Hontiveros in the bill’s explanatory note, “most of them cannot avail of the remedy themselves as they still need to undergo the costly and tedious court litigation.”
If/when passed into law, this bill will “rectify this oversight by providing a straightforward and accessible legal process for intersex individuals to change their sex and first names in the civil register without the need for a judicial order.”
“As we move forward, let us unite in support of the Cagandahan Bill, amplifying the voices of the intersex community and advocating for our rights to be recognized and protected under the law,” stressed Cagandahan. “Together, we can create a more compassionate and just society where everyone can live authentically and without fear of discrimination.”
