Kasambahay Law (A Gender and Development Perspective)

Women comprise about half of the world’s total population but their contribution to economic development has always been low and continues to fall far below its potential. At present, “labor markets across the world remain divided along gender lines” having women account for most of the unpaid work, i.e., household work (or nonmarket production). [1]

 

            The importance of nonmarket production has been a recurring theme in the international community with some countries endeavoring to include this in their Gross Domestic Products or Gross National Products. In the United States, Simon Kuznets proposed such model to the U.S. Department of Commerce during the 1940s. However, they found it challenging to produce consistent and up-to-date accounts that would be useful to business and public policy, thus they were constrained to include only those goods and services that may be measured by money.[2]

In 2013, President Benigno Aquino III signed Republic Act (R.A.) 10361, also known as the “Domestic Workers Act” or “Batas Kasambahay”. The law was specifically enacted to protect the rights of domestic workers and to recognize their special needs in the labor force. Moreover, it served as the country’s compliance to the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 189 which was signed by the President and concurred to by the Senate in 2012. This Convention was the first to set the global standard for domestic workers.

But what is interesting about this law is that it does not only hit the labor aspect but also the gender gap as reflected in the country’s economy. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) estimates that there are 1.9 million kasambahays all over the country.[3] As of December 13, 2014, the DOLE reported around 105,000 of them enrolled in the Social Security System (SSS), which is higher by 100,000 before the law took effect (only a year ago). [4]

Moreover, it may be possible that the Batas Kasambahay played a major role in the improvement of the Philippines’ ranking in the World Economic Fund’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Index. In its 2013 report (the year the law was promulgated), the Philippines was ranked fifth and was the first time the Philippines entered into the Top 5 list. According to the WEF, this may be attributed to “small improvements in the Economic Participation and Opportunity subindexes"[5] which may have been captured— thanks to the new law.

It is important to note though that we may still need more years to determine the trend of kasambahay registrations and if it does impact the nation economically. Nevertheless, it is a perfect example of recording household work (with the help of SSS, Pag-IBIG, and PhilHealth, especially without taxes imposed on the kasambahays’ salaries). Recording household work was and still remains to be an abstract concept to many but our nation may have this as a starting point and a step closer in attaining gender equality.

               

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[1] “Women, Work, and the Economy: Macroeconomic Gains from Gender Equity”. International Monetary Fund, September 2013. https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf

[2] “Accounting for Nonmarket Production: A Prototype Satellite Account Using the American Time Use Survey”. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. http://bea.gov/papers/pdf/Landefeld__Nonmarket_Production_ATUS.pdf

[3] http://www.dole.gov.ph/files/Q & A on Batas Kasambahay (RA No 10361).pdf

[4] http://www.gov.ph/2014/12/13/dole-reports-on-status-of-kasambahay-law-implementation/

[5] “World Economic Fund: Gender Gap Report of 2013”. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2013.pdf

City of Slum: How RA 7279 and RA 8368 were used to cuddle squatters

Squatting has been a normal way of life in the Philippines after the world war II, records showed that victims of war built temporary houses around Manila and when the Philippine government rehabilitated Manila and it became the economic hub of the country, many people from the provinces migrated and took their chances.[1] However, because opportunities were limited those immigrants from the provinces found themselves trapped in Metro Manila without any money to pay for return fare hence they created make shift houses and found themselves struggling in the city each day.

Over the years many who lived in provinces migrate and took chances living in the city. Some have places to stay while other resort to squatting. According to official estimates, Manila and suburbs had around 46,000 squatters in 1946; it rose to 98,000 in 1956 and to 283,000 in 1963. After the Marcos Regime, groups of people occupied estates and areas along Roxas Boulevard and in river Banks which were all formerly owned by Marcos cronies. The emerging housing problems of the underpriviliged paved the way for the enactment of The Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA) or RA 7279 was passed under this government. It provides for a comprehensive and integrated urban development and housing programme, and therefore increases the number of modes of land acquisition offered under PD 1517. Years later after the enactment of UDHA, the PD 772 which penalizes squatting and other similar acts was repealed by RA 8386. These Government efforts to minimize squatting problems however were weak causing the doubled number of squatters in Metro Manila amounting to 2.8 Million for 2010. [2] 

The enactment of Republic Act 8368 strengthened the guts of many Filipino to occupy idle lands and create shanties for their permanent homes. The decriminalization of squatting and shifting the punishment on the so-called professional squatters does not solve the squatting problems in the Philippines. In fact, the laws were useless as the government could not really identify beyond the text of RA 7279 the difference between squatter and professional squatters. RA 7279 were also used by squatters to defend their so-called right over the land because the law requires consultation between property owners and illegal occupants, with a 30-day notice of eviction plus a provision for adequate relocation for settlers.[3] As long the government could not give a proper relocation area for the squatters then their eviction will be delayed. To summarize, the squatters find idle lands and create shanties for living or let someone rent the place then invoke Section 28 of RA 7279 for them to keep the place for an indefinite time while the owner waits for the government to give squatters an area for their relocation.

The honest intention of the law to alleviate the squatting problem and elevate the lives of the urban poor were plausible however the loophole, and the creative circumvention in the context of the law which impliedly supported by many politician gave RA 7279 and RA 8368 the impression that it is useless and a burden to the government to solve the squatting problems in the Philippines. 

[1]https://cuervopropertyadvisory.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/squatters-a-bane-to-the-philippine-social-infrastructure-part-1/

[2] http://philrights.org/from-squatters-into-informal-settlers/

[3]http://hlurb.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/laws-issuances/mandates/ra_7279.pdf

EMERGENCY POWERS

RA 6826          AN ACT TO DECLARE, IN VIEW OF THE EXISTENCE OF A NATIONAL EMERGENCY, A NATIONAL POLICY IN CONNECTION THEREWITH AND TO AUTHORIZE THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR A LIMITED PERIOD AND SUBJECT TO RESTRICTIONS, TO EXERCISE POWERS NECESSARY AND PROPER TO CARRY OUT THE DECLARED NATIONAL POLICY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

 A “state of emergency” is a declaration from a state’s government that may have the effect of suspending the normal function of the national government and/or its entities and will require its people to prepare to meet an emergency situation like the existence of war of calamity. It may also have the effect of suspending some rights granted to its citizens or to any people within its jurisdiction while the “emergency” is going on to give the national government leeway in solving it. The “state of emergency” may be declared covering the entire state or only a portion of it. When only a portion of the state was placed under a ‘state of emergency”, the National Government may run the affairs of the local government affected temporarily. 

Of course, the declaration of a “state of emergency” will be subjected to the existing laws of the concerned state. In the Philippines, the prime law covering this act of the government is the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It is only the Congress that can determine whether there is a war or a state of emergency. . If later on in its opinion that the emergency has ceased, the declaration can be withdrawn through a resolution. Article XII, Section 17 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that: “ In times of national emergency, when the public interests so requires, the State may, during the emergency and under reasonable terms prescribed by it, temporarily take over or direct the operation of any privately owned public utility or business affected with public interest.”

Gender Equality: Infidelity, Adultery and Concubinage

Gender equality refers to the state of men and women having equal opportunities and equal access to the same rights and benefits[1]. The principle of gender equality encompasses the prohibition of discrimination and the adoption of special measures in favour of women[2]. In CEDAW gender discrimination is defined as “any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field”[3]. Several countries around the world adopted the principle on gender equality on their constitutions like Canada[4], Lao[5] and Kuwait[6]. Organizations like the European Union[7] and International Labor Organization[8] are also adopted the principle of gender equality in their organization’s policies. Here in the Philippines; gender equality is incorporated in the 1987 Constitution under Article II on Declaration of Principles and State Policies[9].

Apparently, here in the Philippine, despite that the principle of gender equality on laws is a state policy under the 1987 Constitution[10], gender inequalities still exist in the Philippine legal system. Examples of these inequalities are the crime of adultery and concubinage under the revise penal code. The penal provisions on adultery and concubinage both constitute marital infidelity but are viewed differently. The disparity in treatment stems from gender biases that use double standards in being more lenient thus seemingly accepting the infidelity of men as normal, but more stringent on women who are expected to be one who is faithful to her husband no matter what[11]. Adultery is also a crime in Korea punishable by up to two (2) years in jail[12]. Other countries such as the Russia[13], Canada[14], Israel[15] and Poland[16], adultery represents as ground for divorce. Iran[17], Pakistan[18], Saudi Arabia[19] and Yemen[20] punish adultery by death however; there have been no recent executions unless other crimes were involved.

The problem in the crime of Adultery and Concubinage under the Philippine laws is that while both aims to punish marital infidelity of the spouses, there is higher burden put on wives than on husbands. The main objective of my legal research is to eliminate the discriminatory distinction in the crimes of adultery and concubinage, which gives the wives who commited adultery heavier burden than the husbands committed concubinage.

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[1] Mrs. Diana Opar, The inclusion of principles of gender equality and women’s rights for gender-sensitive constitution, available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/feature/postconflict/Opar-IPU.pdf, last accessed 22 December 2014

[2] Id                                                                   

[3] UN General Assembly, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 18 December 1979, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, p. 13.

[4] Baines, Beverley. "Section 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: A Purposive Interpretation". Queen's Univ. Legal Studies Research Paper No. 07-04; Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Vol. 17, pp. 55-80. (2005)

[5]  Central Intelligence Agency (2011) The World Fact Book: Lao PDR, available at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/la.html, last accessed 22 December 2014.

[6] Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (2010) World Factbook: Kuwait, online edition, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ku.html  last accessed 22 December 2014

[7] Europa Website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/femm/home.html  last accessed 22 December 2014

[8]International Labor Organization, Gender Equality. Available at www.Ilo.com/gender. last accessed 22 December 2014  

[9] Phil. Const. Art II. Sec 14

[10] Id, Supra

[11]Philippine Commission on Women, Policy on Marital Infidelity. Available at  http://pcw.gov.ph/wpla/marital-infidelity-law accessed 22 December 2014

[12] Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley(2012) International Family Law: Adultery in Korea. Available at http://www.international-divorce.com/adultery-law-korea.htm  last accessed 22 December 2014

[13]Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley(2012) International Family Law: Divorce Law in Russia Available at http://www.international-divorce.com/d-russia.htm last accessed 22 October 2014

[14] Divorce Act of Canada, R.S.C. 1985

[15] Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley(2012) International Family Law: Divorce Law in Israel. Available at http://www.international-divorce.com/d-israel.htm  last accessed 22 December 2014

[16] Law Office of Jeremy D. Morley(2012) International Family Law: Divorce law in Poland. Available at http://www.international-divorce.com/ca-poland.htm last accessed  22 December 2014

[17] The Islamic Penal Code of Iran, Book II, Chapter I, Section 1

[18] Mahmood, Shaukat and Nadeem Shaukat, HADOOD LAWS (MUSLIM PENAL LAWS), Lahore, Pakistan: Legal Research Center, Noor Vills, Second Edition 1994. 

[19] Buba Iman, "Safiyatu's conviction untenable under Sharia," Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies, Volume 1.2 (2001)

[20] Human Rights Situation in Yemen. Available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/nt/613/613967/613967en.pdf Accessed 22 December 2014

Illegal Migration of Filipinos on Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia: What would Govern? Municipal or International Laws?

“Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony to all.”

-George Washington [1]

As the great first president of the United States of America (USA) explained, with sincerity, candor and fairness, good connections and relations between and among nations could be established. A nation or a state should live upon such characteristics in order to develop harmonious relationship among others. In that manner, a smooth rhythm of relationship among statehood would exist. However, even how much effort a state would conduct to maintain such strong bond with other states, sometimes such connections are bruised by the actions of its people.

For quite some time, there had been territorial disputes between the Philippines and Malaysia, specifically with regard to the area of Sabah [2]. Both states do have their own sets of evidence to support their claims. In the present days, both Filipinos and Malaysians live together in some parts of the disputed territory. For those Filipinos who had been there for a long time and established their lives there, they had already changed their citizenships. Majority of the Filipinos who had been staying there were from Mindanao. Having the same culture and religion made them blended with the locals with ease. But in the area of Kota Kinabalu, a number of Filipino migrants are said to be staying there illegally [2]. For what is happening, the relation between the Philippines and Malaysia is considerably affected.

There are strict distinctions between the essences of municipal law and international. But former Justice Isagani Cruz explained that the most common distinction that could be given two both is that: Municipal Law covers are sets of commands, rules and regulations coming from someone above going to the bottom, thus, giving a vertical chain of commands. While International Law are sets of treaties and agreements that covers among participating nations or states without having anyone above but equally considered, thus, giving a horizontal distribution of such [3]. For the issues covering the illegal migration of Filipinos in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, what would govern such actions? Would it be the disputing municipal laws or the accepted international laws [4]?

 

[1] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_washington.html

[2] http://www.sharnoffsglobalviews.com/philippine-sabah-085/

[3] http://www.sayangsabah.com/en/permanent-committee-on-illegal-immigrants-to-be-established/

[4] Cruz, I. (2003). International Law. Quezon City: Central Law Book Publishing Co., Inc.

[5] Magallona, M. (2005). Fundamentals of Public International Law. Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc.

BIR's power to allocate income among related taxpayers

A major consideration of multinational companies in planning to expand business in the Philippines is the presence of transfer pricing rules in the country. Recently, the BIR has become more aggressive in its tax audit by issuing assessment notices to taxpayers challenging the propriety of their transfer pricing with regard to their related party transactions.
 

The BIR used its power under Section 50 of the Tax Code as legal basis in issuing the said assessments. This grants the Commissioner of Internal Revenue (“CIR”) the authority to distribute, apportion or allocate gross income or deductions between or among organizations, trades or businesses (whether or not incorporated and whether or not organized in the Philippines) owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the same interests, if such distribution, apportionment or allocation is necessary in order to prevent evasion of taxes or clearly to reflect the income of any such organization, trade or business.

The said authority was not formally implemented until January 2013 when the BIR finally issued Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-2013, otherwise known as the Transfer Pricing Regulations. The regulations prescribe the guidelines in determining the appropriate revenues and taxable income of the parties in a controlled transaction. The guidelines are largely based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guidelines, which have served as the framework for Transfer Pricing regulations around the world.

RR 2-2013 expressly adopts the “arm’s length principle,” which is the internationally accepted standard for determining the appropriate transfer prices of controlled transactions of associated enterprises. The principle requires that a transaction with a related party should be made under comparable conditions and circumstances as a transaction with an independent party. Essentially, a taxpayer’s income from a related party transaction must be equivalent to what would be earned by a similarly situated taxpayer from a transaction with a third party.

Notably, prior to the issuance of the Transfer Pricing Regulations in 2013, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision in the case of CIR v Filinvest dated July 19, 2011. The Court held that the BIR’s power to allocate gross income does not include the power to impute “theoretical interest” because there must be actual or, at the very least, probable receipt or realization of the income that is being allocated.  It also recognized that under the Civil Code, interest cannot be imposed unless expressed in writing.

The Supreme Court decision on non-imputation of theoretical interest on non-interest bearing intercompany loans somehow creates a limit on the BIR’s power to allocate gross income among related taxpayers. A lot of companies with outstanding intercompany loans found an umbrella under the said Supreme Court decision to protect their practice of not charging interest to their related parties with respect to such loans.

Nevertheless, the above Supreme Court decision needs to be scrutinized as it appears to contradict the BIR’s power to allocate gross income and deductions among controlled taxpayers pursuant to Section 50 of the Tax Code. In the same manner, with the recent issuance of the Transfer Pricing Regulations, it appears that the BIR is seriously fighting for its limitless power to allocate income among controlled taxpayers.

Technology and the Laws

Presently, we are living in a world of technology. We have our computers, cellular phones, cameras and the likes. In this age of modern technology, do we have sufficient laws? Is Cyber crime law enough to govern?

Social media is one of the most abused product of technology that we have today. Not so long ago, Facebook was introduced to the society and became a hit. In the past years, Facebook had been consistently upgrading and updating their system so that each account owner may change the privacy settings that suits him. But when we change the privacy settings of our posts, are we really in scope of privacy?

Recently, the Supreme Court decided the case Vivares v STC. In the decision, the Court discussed responsible social networking or the observance of the "netiquettes". It was held that if you post a picture and set the privacy to "Friends Only", it cannot be said that it is very private because the picture can be easily shared by your friends and that they can tag someone so that it will be available to them. On the other hand, if a post was set to "Me Only" privacy setting, it is implied that there is no intent to have the picture broadcast publicly.

RA 9344 as amended by RA 10630: Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility is 17 not 15

There are 98. 39 million people in the Philippines and 53 million are minors according to a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Thus, there is 54.3 % youth dependency. Youth is an intermediary phase which signifies the time between childhood and adulthood. Adulthood as defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means that the person already attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible whereas childhood is the complete contrast of adulthood because what childhood connotes is being young, below the age of majority (18), naive, not capable of discernment, and dependent.

If the youth population covers more than 50% then it simply means that more laws should be enacted to protect the young and innocent. Why is that so? Jose Rizal, Philippine national hero, acknowledges the role of the youth as the hope of the future. If the child’s rearing in his childhood is bad wherein he was neglected or abused then expect a thwarted future for him. Logic then tells us that if those 50 % minors whose future were already thwarted then they cannot contribute to the growth of our nation. Without that growth, what will happen to all of us? Our country will suffer and lose everything. This is why RA 9344 as amended by RA 10630 was enacted.

RA 9344 otherwise known as Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 as amended by RA 10630 was enacted to protect the rights of the child especially those that are in conflict with the law. Under the revised penal code, a child can only be exempted from criminal responsibility if he is under the age of 9 yet it was modified to 15 or under 15 years old by sec. 6 of RA 9344. The rationale behind the modification is that criminalizing younger children is not the answer to the root causes of juvenile delinquency. Yet a lot of people including some of the authorities want to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility because of the rampant surge of crimes involving children. They keep pushing the idea that drug lords and other people with criminal minds use these innocent children as leverage because they will not be penalized due to the exemption afforded to them by the law. This however is not even supported by statistics.

If the authorities will succumb into the idea of lowering the minimum age of minority then that is tantamount to bending the laws and international principles. The proposed age is 13, a very heart crushing proposal. 13 years old, what does he know about life? Does he have any idea how big the world is? How the people do works in their own arena? How some people are dishonest, conceited, loathsome, horrid, appalling and beastly? None, I presume. A 13 year old should be out there enjoying life, and appreciating the love and care given to him. Money is not an element of love so the parents and the people surrounding an innocent child should give it unconditionally because if not, this is where trouble comes in.

According to psychological research, a child exposed to abuse from his parents, friends, and environment will tend to think that it is a social norm to just beat someone else over his mistake. Neglected child too thinks that nobody cares about him so there are tendencies of committing acts which is not in accordance with law just to get the attention of his love ones. Furthermore, studies show that children who are in conflict with laws came from poor and dysfunctional families.

A child in conflict with law will not alter the fact that he is still a child that needs support, love, care, and not capable of discernment. Lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility will not address the root causes of juvenile delinquency and putting them in juvenile detention does not help either instead according to Richard Tremblay "by having them live together, they form relationships. It's more likely to increase the problem" because it they are expose to a wrong crowd. Also, you corrupt the supposed growth of the child. Criminalizing him will not make him mature according to Department of Social Welfare Development. 

It is a well settled principle that a minor, below 18, is not capable of discernment thus how much more for a 13 year old or for a 15 year old? Ergo, the minimum age of criminal responsibility should be 17.

SEX OFFENDERS WITH AIDS: HOW SHOULD THEY BE PUNISHED

Sex offenders is the generic term for all persons convicted of crimes involving sex, including rape, molestation, sexual harassment and pornography production or distribution.[1] While AIDS is defines as a disease of the human immune system that is characterized cytologically especially by reduction in the numbers of CD4-bearing helper T cells to 20 percent or less of normal thereby rendering the subject highly vulnerable to life-threatening conditions (as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia) and to some (as Kaposi's sarcoma) that become life-threatening and that is caused by infection with HIV commonly transmitted in infected blood especially during illicit intravenous drug use and in bodily secretions (as semen) during sexual intercourse[2]

What should the Philippine government do with regard to cases of sex offenders with AIDS transmitting such life-threatening disease to an innocent person? Our legislature enacted a law with regard to AIDS known as Republic Act 8504 The Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998. This is an act promulgating policies and prescribing measures for the prevention and control of hiv/aids in the Philippines, instituting a nationwide hiv/aids information and educational program, establishing a comprehensive hiv/aids monitoring system, strengthening the Philippine national aids council, and for other purposes.[3] But the acts punishable provided in the said law are misleading information / advertising, knowingly & negligently infecting others in the practice of one’s profession, violations on medical confidentiality, discriminatory acts & policies.[4] But this is not enough to punish such sex offenders with aids transmitting a life-threatening disease to another.

                There is no law in the Philippines that penalizes sex offenders with aids, but we need this kind of law in order that sex offenders, like in the United States, be punished and regulated. In the United States, during the early years of the HIV epidemic, a number of states implemented HIV-specific criminal exposure laws. These laws impose criminal penalties on people living with HIV who know their HIV status and who potentially expose others to HIV. In 1990, the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, which provides states with funds for AIDS treatment and care, required every state to certify that its criminal laws were adequate to prosecute any HIV-infected individual who knowingly exposed another person to HIV.[5]

                The United States’ Jurisprudence provides, Nick Rhoades, an HIV-positive man living in Iowa, who had an undetectable viral load, was sentenced to 25 years after a single sexual encounter during which he used a condom but did not disclose his HIV status (Rhoades v. State of Iowa)[6], A man in Oregon was convicted of ten counts of attempted murder and ten counts of attempted assault based on allegations that he engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse without disclosing his medical condition (State of Oregon v. Hinkhouse),[7] An HIV-positive U.S. Navy officer and Catholic priest pleaded guilty in December 2007 to several crimes committed against U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen he was counseling, including forcible sodomy and indecent assault. Charges of assault were changed to aggravated assault because of his HIV status[8]

                The aids statistics in the Philippines as of the 10,514 HIV positive cases reported from 1984 to 2013, 92% (9,637) were infected through sexual contact, 4% (420) through needle sharing among injecting drug users, 1% (59) through mother-to-child transmission, <1% (20) through blood transfusion and needle prick injury <1% (3). No data is available for 4% (375) of the cases. Cumulative data shows 33% (3,147) were infected through heterosexual contact, 41% (3,956) through homosexual contact, and 26% (2,534) through bisexual contact. From 2007 there has been a shift in the predominant trend of sexual transmission from heterosexual contact (20%) to males having sex with other males (80%)[9] Overseas workers from the Philippines (e.g., seafarers, domestic helpers, etc.) account for about 20 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the country.[10]

                Hence, such law like in the United States must also be enacted in the Philippines for the growing number of aids infection in our country, usually coming from sex offenders, for this to be regulated.

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[1] http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sex+offender

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aids

[3] Republic Act 8504 The Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998

[4] Id.

[5] Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-381; 104 Stat. 576).

[6] Young, Saundra (November 9, 2012). "Imprisoned over HIV: One man's story". CNN Health

[7] Shevory, Thomas (2004). Notorious H.I.V.: The Media Spectacle of Nushawn Williams. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

[8] Melloy, Kilian (December 6, 2007). "Navy Chaplain Faces Court Martial for Gay Sexual Assaults".

[9] "Philippine HIV/AIDS Registry Fact Sheet - August 2012". Department of Health.

[10] "Philhealth: Over 2,000 Pinoy workers abroad infected with HIV". GMA News Online. 10 January 2013