MANILA – Akbayan Partylist Rep. Chel Diokno has filed a measure seeking to require the translation of Philippine laws with penal provisions into Filipino, Bisaya, and Ilokano to break language barriers and make laws more accessible to citizens.

House Bill No. 3863, or the proposed “Batas sa Sariling Wika Act,” aims to amend the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 to mandate translations into the three major Philippine languages, representing the country’s largest ethnolinguistic groups: Tagalog (26 percent), Bisaya (14.3 percent), and Ilokano (8 percent). Cebuano speakers, who make up another 8 percent, are also covered.

Under the bill, all new laws with penal provisions must be translated within 90 days, while existing laws with penalties—including the Revised Penal Code, Labor Code, RA 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act), the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act, the Safe Spaces Act, and the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers—must 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 accessible 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,” he added.

Diokno said the proposal aligns the Philippines 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. (PNA)