Page 1 of 5 The human rights situation of transgender people in the Philippines Submission of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) to the 13 th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review Executive Summary 1 Transgender people are one of the most marginalized and neglected sectors in the Philippines in terms of human rights protection, promotion and fulfillment. Transpinays and transpinoys (transgender/transsexual women and men of Filipino descent) continue to face barriers in legal recognition, accessing education, employment, health care and public accommodations and in seeking redress as victims of violence and bias-motivated crimes. Up until the present, transgender Filipinos remain vulnerable to widespread discrimination based on their gender identity and gender expression. Filipino transmen and transwomen experience human rights violations perpetuated both by transphobic State and non-State actors. Legal recognition 2 In 2001, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Republic Act 9048 (An act authorizing the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to correct a clerical or typographical error in an entry and/or change of first name or nickname in the civil register without need of a judicial order) also known as the Clerical Error Law. RA 9048 expressly prohibits change in the civil registry of any person’s nationality, age, status or sex although it allows for name change based on three reasons alone: “(1) The petitioner finds the first name or nickname to be ridiculous, tainted with dishonor or extremely difficult to write or pronounce. (2) The new first name or nickname has been habitually and continuously used by the petitioner and he has been publicly known by that by that first name or nickname in the community: or (3) The change will avoid confusion.” 3 In 2007, when a petition was filed at the Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines by a transsexual woman, Dr. Mely Silverio, to change her name and sex in her birth certificate after undergoing sex reassignment surgery (SRS), the SC invoked the provisions in RA 9048 regarding change of name and sex. The SC categorically denied Silverio’s petition stating that based on RA 9048, Silverio filed her petition in the wrong venue and that the law does not allow for a change of name and sex based on SRS. 4 Prior to the enactment of RA 9048, transsexual-identified Filipino citizens had been able to seek legal document change through the local courts. After 2001 and especially after