In his privilege speech before the House of Representatives, Akbayan Partylist Representative Atty. Chel Diokno urged fellow lawmakers to support House Bill No. 3863, or the Batas sa Sariling Wika Act, which seeks to make Philippine laws with penal provisions accessible by requiring their translation into major native languages.
Citing constitutional provisions that mandate the promotion of Filipino as the national language and medium for official communication, Diokno lamented that most laws remain inaccessible to ordinary Filipinos.
“Sa kabila nito, nananatiling banyaga at malayo sa karaniwang mamamayan ang ating mga batas,” Diokno said.
“Bilang tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao sa loob ng ilang dekada na, karamihan ng mga kliyente natin ay mga ordinaryong mamamayan na hindi bihasa sa Ingles. Dehado na nga sila dahil wala silang pera at kakayahan, mas lalo pa silang dehado dahil hindi nila naintindihan ang batas," he added.
The human rights lawyer-turned-legislator pointed to his experience running the Free Legal Help Desk, where many Filipinos sought answers to basic legal concerns—such as correcting birth certificates, securing child support, or understanding workers’ rights—but were hindered by complex legal language, often written exclusively in English.
Diokno argued that the language barrier continues to be a major obstacle in Filipinos’ access to justice, unlike in neighboring Southeast Asian countries.
“Ang mga batas ng mga karatig-bansa ng Pilipinas, gaya ng Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, at Timor-Leste, ay nasa kani-kanilang pambansang wika,” he said. “Ipinapakita nito na posible ang paggamit ng sariling wika sa pagsulat ng mga batas.”
Under HB 3863, Diokno proposes four key mandates:
- Amend portions of the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 to require the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) to translate all future laws with penal provisions into Filipino, Bisaya, and Ilokano within 90 days of enactment;
- Require the KWF to translate all existing penal laws within five years;
- Encourage translation of these laws into other regional and indigenous languages;
- Task the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) with publishing official translations in the Official Gazette and online.
The proposal prioritizes Filipino, Bisaya, and Ilokano to reflect the languages of the country's four largest ethnolinguistic groups: Tagalog (26%), Bisaya (14.3%), Ilokano (8%), and Cebuano (8%), based on data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“Ngayong Linggo ng Wika, ilapit natin ang batas sa karaniwang Pilipino. Isulong natin ang Batas sa Sariling Wika,” Diokno declared, urging his fellow lawmakers to support the bill as co-authors or co-sponsors.
Despite acknowledging the scale of the undertaking, Diokno emphasized that it must start somewhere.
“Maaaring magsimula sa pagsasalin ng mga batas na nagpapataw ng parusa, tulad ng pagkakakulong o pagmumulta, sa mga wikang ginagamit ng pinakamalalaking pangkat etniko sa bansa.”
Joining Diokno in co-authoring the "Batas sa Sariling Wika" bill are Akbayan Party-list Representatives Percival Cendaña and Dadah Kiram Ismula, together with Dinagat Islands Representative Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao.
The bill comes amid growing calls for language equity and inclusivity in legal and government communication, and is expected to generate robust debate in the coming legislative sessions.
