FORTY-TWO lawmakers on Tuesday filed House Bill 8393, which seeks to define and punish violence against women in politics, or VAWP.
“While existing laws address gender-based violence, they nonetheless fail to capture the political dimension of these attacks,” the lawmakers said in the bill’s explanatory note.
They said the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act “is limited to violence within intimate or domestic relationships.”
The Safe Spaces Act, they said, “addresses sexual harassment in public and online spaces, but treats these as general offenses.”
The Cybercrime Prevention Act “penalizes online crimes but lacks a gender-sensitive and political lens,” they added.
“When a woman is attacked in politics, it is not merely an interpersonal dispute; it is a systemic attack intended to dismantle democratic participation,” the note read. “Addressing VAWP is therefore not only a matter of protecting women’s rights but also of safeguarding our democratic institutions and ensuring inclusive governance.”
The bill defines VAWP as “any act or omission directed at, or affecting a woman in politics, which can be done in public or private, and which can occur online or offline, that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological, economic, institutional, or symbolic harm or suffering to women in politics.” This includes threats, harassment, coercion, intimidation, discrimination, or deprivation of rights committed on account of gender.
Under the bill, the penalty for economic violence against a woman in politics is imprisonment of six months to six years, a fine of P100,000 to P500,000, or both.
“Any public officer, political party officer, or responsible official of a political organization who commits institutional violence shall suffer the penalty of imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than six (6) years, and a fine of not less than P200,000 but not over P1 million,” the bill stated. “If the offender is a public officer, the penalty shall further include perpetual disqualification from holding public office and forfeiture of retirement benefits, without prejudice to administrative sanctions.”
Acts constituting physical violence would be punished by a penalty one degree higher than those provided under the Revised Penal Code or other applicable laws when committed to prevent or punish a woman’s political participation.
The penalty for psychological violence is imprisonment of one to six years and a fine of P100,000 to P500,000. For doxxing, the penalty is imprisonment of two to six years and a fine of P200,000 to P1 million.
The penalty for “technology-facilitated violence or online political abuse” is imprisonment of two to six years and a fine of P200,000 to P1 million, “without prejudice to prosecution under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and other applicable laws.”
The penalty for semiotic violence is imprisonment of six months to three years, a fine of P100,000 to P300,000, or both.
Sexual violence “shall be punished by the penalty one degree higher than that provided under the Revised Penal Code, the Anti-Rape Law, the Safe Spaces Act, and other applicable laws, when committed against a woman in politics by reason of or in relation to her political participation, candidacy, or exercise of public office,” the bill read.
Any “analogous act” resulting in VAWP would be punished by the penalty corresponding to the most analogous prohibited act.
The bill stated that if a candidate or nominee is the offender, a final conviction shall include disqualification from public office and deprivation of the right to vote.
The bill also listed aggravating circumstances, including the use of public resources and “disinformation and falsification with gendered intent.”
The bill was filed by Mamamayang Liberal Rep. Leila de Lima, La Union 1st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V, Laguna 1st District Rep. Ann Matibag, Dinagat Islands Rep. Arlene Bag-ao, Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Bernadette Barbers, Iloilo Rep. Julienne Baronda, Quezon City 6th District Rep. Ma. Victoria Co-Pilar, Bulacan 5th District Rep. Agatha Paula Cruz, Quirino Rep. Midy Cua, Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Janice Degamo, Cebu City 1st District Rep. Rachel Marguerite del Mar, Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Garin, Albay 1st District Rep. Cielo Krisel Lagman, Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro, Ilocos Sur 2nd District Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan, 4K Rep. Iris Marie Montes, Cagayan 2nd District Rep. Baby Aline Vargas-Alfonso, Leyte 3rd District Rep. Anna Victoria Veloso-Tuazon, Bulacan 4th District Rep. Linabelle Ruth Villarica, San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Maria Zamora, 4Ps Rep. JC Abalos, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Ziaur-Rahman Alonto Adiong, Laguna 4th District Rep. Benjamin Agarao Jr., Zamboanga del Norte 3rd District Rep. Adrian Michael Amatong, Lanao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Yasser Alonto Balindong, Negros Occidental 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, Northern Samar 1st District Rep. Niko Raul Daza, Manila 1st District Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr., Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice, Muntinlupa Rep. Jaime Fresnedi, Eastern Samar Rep. Christopher Sheen Gonzales, Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, Pusong Pinoy Rep. Jernie Jett Nisay, Cebu City 2nd District Rep. Eduardo Rama Jr., Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon, Ilocos Sur 1st District Rep. Ronald Singson, Cagayan de Oro 1st District Rep. Lordan Suan, Oriental Mindoro 2nd District Rep. Alfonso Umali Jr., and Akbayan Reps. Dadah Kiram Ismula, Percival Cendaña, and Jose Manuel Diokno.