Diokno files bill to break language barriers in PH laws

By Jose Cielito Reganit, Philippine News Agency

Diokno said the proposal brings the Philippines in line with its Southeast Asian neighbors. (File Photo: Chel Diokno/Facebook)

MANILA – Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno has filed a bill requiring the translation of Philippine laws with penal provisions into Filipino, Bisaya, and Ilokano to break the language barriers.

House Bill No. 3863 or the “Batas sa Sariling Wika” Act seeks to amend the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 to require translations into the three major Philippine languages representing the country’s four largest ethnolinguistic groups: Tagalog (26 percent), Bisaya (14.3 percent), Ilokano (8 percent), and Cebuano (8 percent).

If enacted, the law will require all new laws with penal provisions to be translated within 90 days, and all existing laws with penal provisions –including the Revised Penal Code, Labor Code, RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act), Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, Safe Spaces Act, and the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers, among others –to be translated within five years.

The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) will serve as the lead translating authority, while the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) will be tasked with publishing the translations in the Official Gazette and making them available online.

“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,” Diokno said in a statement on Thursday.

“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.”

Diokno said the proposal brings the Philippines in line with its Southeast Asian neighbors.

“In countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste, laws are written and enforced in their own languages,” he said.