MANILA — Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno filed House Bill No. 3863, or the “Batas sa Sariling Wika” Act, requiring Philippine laws with penal provisions to be translated into Filipino, Bisaya, and Ilokano to address language barriers.
The bill seeks to amend the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 and cover the country’s four largest ethnolinguistic groups: Tagalog (26%), Bisaya (14.3%), Ilokano (8%), and Cebuano (8%).
If enacted, new laws with penal provisions must be translated within 90 days, while existing laws, including the Revised Penal Code, Labor Code, RA 7610, Anti-VAWC Act, Safe Spaces Act, and Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, must be translated within five years.
The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) will lead the translation efforts, while the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) will publish the translations in the Official Gazette and online.
Diokno emphasized the importance of accessibility:
“How can we expect ordinary citizens to follow the law if it’s written in a language they can’t understand? A worker in Mindanao shouldn’t need a lawyer or translator to understand the Labor Code; a mother in Ilocos should be able to read the Anti-VAWC law in her native tongue.”
He added, “By translating laws with penalties into terms that are easily understandable by ordinary citizens in their local language, we minimize the risk of misunderstanding and misinterpretation.”
The proposal aligns the Philippines with other Southeast Asian countries, where laws are written and enforced in the national language, Diokno said.
“In countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste, laws are written and enforced in their own languages,” he noted.