Lawmakers have loose ends to tie up and bills to pass before they either leave the legislature for good, or start campaigning as the nation gears up for the midterm elections.
In May 2025, 12 senators and 317 representatives will bid their seats adieu — and, along with that, the hundreds of pending bills awaiting action in the legislature’s two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Normally, the legislation process starts at the House of Representatives, where members propose bills that must go through three readings before being approved. The bills will then be referred to the Senate, where they undergo the same process before the bill is signed by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President.
According to the Senate, a bill lapses into law if the President does not sign within 30 days from receipt in his office. Congress may also override a presidential veto — which is when the President rejects a bill — by a two-thirds vote.
To fast-track the legislative process, major legislation can be introduced in both houses in the form of companion or identical bills, encouraging both chambers of the legislature to consider the measure simultaneously. In cases where a bill is first introduced in the Senate, the bill will be referred to the House for concurrence only if it is approved in the third reading.
Bills last only until the end of the congress they are filed in, which means they have a shelf life of three years, but the bills that aren’t passed into law can be refiled after the next congress convenes. The 2025 midterm elections will determine who makes it to the 20th Congress of the Philippines.
Some bills hurdle the House and Senate with ease. Others have been sitting in the legislature for years, and the time it takes is a testament to their controversiality, but also the persistence of the issues they seek to address. Here are the bills that are due (and overdue) for passing into law.
Anti-Political Dynasty Bill

In July 2024, Senator Robin Padilla filed Senate Bill No. 2730, or “An Act Defining and Prohibiting Political Dynasties.”
The bill prohibits incumbent officials’ spouses or relatives within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity from running for office in the same city or province, or for national positions if the incumbent’s office is national in nature.
If a candidate violates this, the Commission on Elections may deny them a certification of candidacy, not count their votes, or disqualify them from assuming office. Additionally, violation of the act will be punishable under Section 264 of the Omnibus Election Code, which states that election offenses are punishable with one to six years of imprisonment, as well as deprivation of the right to vote.
The Anti-Political Dynasty Bill underwent its first reading in July and has been referred to the Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation, as well as to the Committee on Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes, which Padilla chairs.
Strengthening the Freedom of Association of Workers Bill

In July 2024, Senator Jinggoy Estrada filed Senate Bill No. 2735, proposing “An Act Protecting the Rights of All Workers, Workers’ Organizations, and Unions from Interference by Their Employers, Public Authorities or Their Agents.”
The bill designated the Department of Labor and Employment to lead efforts in promoting free trade unionism. It imposes a fine not less than P100,000 or imprisonment for up to two years for anyone who restrains, harasses, coerces, or unduly interferes with any workers’ union or association or workers exercising their right to self-organize. The bill also recognizes workers’ rights to collective bargaining and negotiations, as well as the right to strike.
After its first reading in July, the bill was referred to the Committee on Labor, Employment, and Resource Development, and currently awaits a second reading.
Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill

With the “Act Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Protected Attributes” (SBN 2766), Senate Committees on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development, Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs, and Finance seek to penalize discrimination against a broad scope of marginalized people.
Filed by Senators Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva, Imee Marcos, Padilla, and Estrada, the bill would prohibit “discriminatory practices based on age, indigenous, cultural, racial, or ethnic origin, religious belief or activity, political inclination or conviction, social class, sex, sexual orientation, sex characteristics, gender identity, gender expression, marital relationship status, disability, HIV status, profession, occupation, employment status, educational attainment, maternity and pregnancy, deprivation of liberty, former incarceration, health status or medical history, language, physical features, or other status.”
Furthermore, the bill defines discrimination as the “distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference or other differential treatment that is directly or indirectly based on the protected attributes.”
Since its filing and first reading in August 2024, the bill has yet to undergo a second reading and was transferred from the Calendar of Ordinary Business to the Calendar for Special Order, making it a bill of higher priority for the legislature.
SOGIE Bill

Since its first file in 2000 by the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and former Akbayan Representative Etta Rosales, the contentious SOGIE Bill has seen many critics and supporters in and out of the Senate. By 2019, it was the longest-running bill to await action in the Senate. Whether it will become law in 2025 remains unclear.
Its latest version is Senate Bill No. 2396, or “An Act Prohibiting Discrimination, Marginalization, and Violence Committed on the Basis of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, or Expression (SOGIE),” filed in August 2023. Prohibited discriminatory acts under the bill include denying access to public and medical services, discrimination in the workplace and educational institutions, promoting stigma, harassment by law enforcement officers, subjecting any person to examinations to alter and/or determine their SOGIE, engaging in public speech meant to shame or insult, rejecting children their SOGIE, and harassment, assault, or bullying by any person on the basis of one’s SOGIE.
The bill also provides a redress mechanism for SOGIE-related offenses, proposing that the Women and Children’s Desks in police stations be renamed as “Women, Children, and LGBTQ++ Protection Desks,” which sets it apart from the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill.
The SOGIE Bill has faced obstacles in and out of the Senate. In March 2018, Christian groups like Jesus is Lord (JIL) and the Coalition of Christians for Righteousness, Justice, and Truth (CCRJT) protested against the bill outside the Senate, arguing that it is “‘discriminatory against those who do not agree with the LGBT community,” Rappler reports. Critics within the Senate included then-Senate President Tito Sotto, Senators Manny Pacquiao, Cynthia Villar, Win Gatchalian, and Joel Villanueva, the brother of JIL founder Brother Eddie Villanueva.
Cases of violence and discrimination against the LGBTQ community — more specifically against transgender people — throughout the years have triggered protests and calls for the SOGIE Bill’s passing. In 2018, Senator Risa Hontiveros pressed the need for an anti-discrimination law after TV and internet personality KaladKaren was denied entry to a Makati City bar for being a trans woman. In 2020, former President Rodrigo Duterte granted US marine Joseph Scott Pemberton absolute pardon six years after he killed Jennifer Laude, a Filipino trans woman, in Olongapo City, sparking outrage among the LGBTQ community and its supporters. In 2023, the arrest of drag performer Pura Luka Vega following a lip sync performance of a rock remix of the church song “Ama Namin” reignited discussions on the SOGIE Bill and LGBTQ rights.
The SOGIE Bill is still pending action in the Committee on Rules, which handles the Senate’s calendar, manners of transacting business, committee creation, and parliamentary rules.
The Cagandahan Law

In 2003, intersex man Jeff Cagandahan filed a petition to amend the sex on his birth certificate. Observed and assigned female at birth, he developed more male characteristics and was diagnosed with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), a medical condition that causes the development of ambiguous genitalia — a common trait among intersex people. Though the petition was granted in 2005, the Office of the Solicitor General appealed this decision on the basis that the CAH did not make Cagandahan male. But in 2008, the Supreme Court approved the amendments to his birth certificate, allowing him to change his registered sex and to go by his lived name. Cagandahan is now an intersex activist and a board member of the Taiwan-based intersex human rights organization Intersex Asia.
In March 2024, Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 2626, “An Act Authorizing the City or Municipal Registrar and the Consul General to Change the Sex and First Name of an Intersex Person Appearing in the Civil Register Without the Need of a Judicial Order,” also known as the Cagandahan Law. The bill allows for an intersex person to petition for changes to their registered sex and first name, supported by a medical certificate, without having to go through the Supreme Court. The bill’s explanatory note states, “This proposed legislation shall promote efficiency and inclusivity within the civil registration system, ensuring that intersex individuals are not burdened with costly and time-consuming court litigation.”
The bill underwent its first reading in April 2024 and has been referred to the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality and the Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
The Divorce Bill

Senate Bill No. 2443 is “An Act Expanding the Grounds for Dissolution of Marriage, Instituting Divorce and Setting the Procedure Thereof, Providing Protections to the Parties to the Marriage and Its Common Children,” also known as the “Dissolution of Marriage Act” and more commonly referred to as the Divorce Bill.
Authored by Senators Hontiveros, Raffy Tulfo, Padilla, Pia Cayetano, and Marcos, and filed in September 2023, the bill seeks to amend the Family Code, which only permits legal separation and annulment. Grounds for divorce include at least five years of separation or two years of legal separation, commission of rape before or after the celebration of marriage, irreconcilable marital differences, and other grounds for legal separation under the Family Code like physical violence and infidelity, but excluding homosexuality or lesbianism.
The bill is another subject of contention among politicians and the public. Like the SOGIE Bill, its main hurdle is opposing sentiment from religious institutions in the country. In July 2024, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines released a statement on divorce, saying that the Philippines must be careful joining the “divorce bandwagon” as the last country in the world without divorce legislation, aside from the Vatican.
The Divorce Bill mandates a 60-day cooling off period, which means that a divorce case can only be tried 60 days after it is filed on the ground of irreconcilable differences. When the House of Representatives approved the bill on its final reading in May 2024, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman stated that the bill does not recognize “no-fault, quickie drive-thru, email or notarial divorces.”
It still awaits a second reading in the Senate.
Free Menstrual Products Act

In May 2024, Senator Sonny Angara filed Senate Bill No 2658, “An Act Promoting Menstrual Health and Hygiene by Providing Free Menstrual Products to Indigent Women and to Girls Enrolled in Public Schools Nationwide,” also known as the Free Menstrual Products Act.
The bill proposes the distribution of free and locally-made menstrual products in barangay health centers and public schools on the primary and secondary levels. Should the bill be passed, funds for the program will be included in the Department of Health’s (DOH) budget.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) lauded the bill, stating that it “reinforces the implementation of Article II, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, which protects citizen’s right to health, and Republic Act No. 9710, or the Magna Carta of Women, which promotes basic health care and services, especially for the marginalized sectors.”
“Menstruation is a natural monthly cycle that should not be excluded in the distribution of basic services and needs. This bill has the potential to better the living conditions of all Filipinos and positions the vulnerable in the government’s priorities,” the CHR added.
The bill was read in May 2024, and is pending in the Committees on Health and Demography, Basic Education, and Finance.
Surrogacy and ART Regulation Bill

In May 2023, Zamboanga City 1st District Representative Khymer Adan T. Olaso filed House Bill (HB) 8301, “An Act Providing for the Framework for the Conduct and Regulation of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and Surrogacy Procedures,” also known as the Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Regulation Act of 2023.
The bill proposes to establish a commission to oversee and regulate the practice of ART and surrogacy in the country, ensuring all parties involved are fully informed of their rights and responsibilities, placing safeguards for them and the child and “that accurate data are available on the number and outcomes of these procedures.” It also proposes that the child born out of surrogacy be deemed the biological child of the intending couple and entitled to the rights and privileges available to a “natural child.”
With the bill, Olaso seeks to fill a gap in surrogacy legislation, as the practice is still unregulated in the country. In a report for Al Jazeera’s documentary outfit 101 East, journalist Natashya Gutierrez found that the Philippines’ burgeoning surrogacy industry is fueled by poverty with young women offering to act as surrogates for money.
Agents or middlemen facilitate transactions between the surrogates and the intending couples, and fertility clinics carry out the procedures. While surrogacy is not technically illegal, the lack of regulations also means a lack of safeguards, especially for the surrogate mother. Gutierrez tells the story of Gloria (not her real name), who was promised P20,000 each month of the pregnancy and a P140,000 bonus for the delivery. One week after she became pregnant, she lost contact with her clients. Without regulations, clinics are also forced to falsify the child’s birth records, registering the intended mother as the biological mother.
Olaso, a Catholic himself, admits that a bill regulating and allowing commercial surrogacy may not fly in a majority-Catholic country. In January 2024, Pope Francis called commercial surrogacy “a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs.”
Prominent feminists share the sentiment and have raised concerns — particularly about the commodification of women’s bodies, and how commercial surrogacy may be coercive to impoverished women. Before New York City passed its own surrogacy bill in 2019, journalist and activist Gloria Steinem spoke out in opposition to the bill, stating that, under the legislation, “women in economic need become commercialized vessels for rent, and the fetuses they carry become the property of others.”
The ART and Surrogacy Regulation Bill has been pending in the Committee on Health since its first reading in May 2023.
Amendments to the Universal Health Care Act

Senate Bill No. 2620, also known as “An Act Amending Republic Act No. 11223, Otherwise Known As the ‘Universal Health Care Act’,” was authored by 17 senators and filed in March 2024.
The bill seeks to amend several parts of the Universal Health Care Act. Amendments include the addition of dental services in the National Health Insurance Program’s essential health benefits package and reducing premium contribution rates for PhilHealth members, the provision that the Philippine government shoulder 50 percent of migrant workers’ contributions, and a proposal to prevent the increase of premium contribution rates in the event of a state emergency or calamity.
The bill passed its third reading in August 2024 and has been referred to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
In December 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. scrapped PhilHealth’s 2025 subsidy of P74 billion, reasoning that the government-controlled insurance corporation has a surplus of funds to use. PhilHealth President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel R. Ledesma, Jr. confirmed this and assured that the corporation still has enough funds to provide members with health benefits, saying that as of October, the company still had P281 billion in its reserves and surplus funds of P150 billion. As of November, it also has an investment portfolio amounting to P489 billion.
Cannabis Medicalization Act

In February 2024, Senator Padilla filed Senate Bill No. 2573, “An Act Providing for the Medicalization of Cannabis, Expanding Access to Medical Cannabis as a Means of Medical Treatment, Expanding Research into Its Medical Properties, Enumerating Prohibited Acts and Prescribing Penalties Thereto.”
The Cannabis Medicalization Act seeks to permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes. The proposal states that medicalization “includes its acquisition, possession, transportation, delivery, dispensing, administration, cultivation, or manufacturing by private individuals or entities only for medical and research purposes.” It also provides for the creation of the Philippine Medical Cannabis Authority (PMCA) under the DOH. Under the proposed law, patients qualified to use medical cannabis will have to register with the PMCA. Written prescriptions will also have to follow a standardized format and can only be issued by a physician who has undergone medical cannabis training from the PMCA.
Padilla, in his sponsorship speech, clarified that medical cannabis can only be used as a complementary treatment, to be used alongside other medicines prescribed to a patient. He said, “Binibigyang-linaw po natin na ang medical cannabis ay complementary treatment na isasabay sa mga gamot na sadyang ginagamit na ng isang pasyente.”
A similar bill filed in the House of Representatives was approved in its third reading in July. The Cannabis Medicalization Act, on the other hand, is pending a second reading in the Senate.