The House of Representatives approved on final reading a bill seeking to allow married women to retain their maiden surname.
House Bill (HB) No. 4605, approved with an overwhelming 277 votes, was created to amend a portion of the country’s 72-year-old New Civil Code (NCC).
"Although our Civil Code currently allows three options for identification, we see this bill as a relevant and timely move to prove the commitment of the House of Representatives to promoting equality of men and women before the law," Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said in a statement.
He also noted that it is important to institutionalize the power of women to decide whether they will retain both their maiden name and surname.
"It is not enough that our jurisprudence says that a married woman has an option, but not a duty, to use the surname of the husband," he added.
In Article 370 of Title XIII, Book III of the Republic Act No. 386, women are given three options:
- Use her maiden first name and surname and add her husband's surname
- Use her maiden first name and her husband's surname
- Use her husband's full name then prefix a word indicating that she is his wife, such as "Mrs."
HB No. 4605 introduced the fourth option of retaining the maiden first name and surname of a married woman.
The bill was authored by Manila 4th District Rep. Edward Vera Maceda, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, San Juan City Rep. Ysabel Zamora, Leyte 3rd District Rep. Juliet Marie Veloso-Tuazon, Negros Occidental 4th District Rep. Juliet Ferrer, Eastern Samar Rep. Maria Fe Abunda, Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, Leyte 2nd District Rep. Lolita Javier, Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Mannix Dalipe and ACT-CIS Rep. Jocelyn Tulfo.
