Senator Robin Padilla has introduced a bill aiming to increase penalties for employers who fail to implement appropriate measures to address gender-based sexual harassment or ignore complaints related to such misconduct.
Senate Bill 2810, submitted on Wednesday, proposes amendments to the Safe Spaces Act (Republic Act 11313). The bill suggests raising fines for employers from the current range of PHP 5,000-10,000 to PHP 100,000-300,000 for not taking adequate steps to prevent gender-based sexual harassment or failing to establish an internal mechanism or a committee on decorum.
Additionally, the bill seeks to increase the penalty for employers who do not respond to sexual harassment complaints from PHP 10,000-15,000 to PHP 300,000-500,000. It also includes an automatic award of PHP 300,000 in exemplary damages upon conviction.
Padilla further proposes extending the prescriptive period for filing complaints from five to ten years, citing the need to address the stigma and social exclusion that survivors of sexual harassment may face when coping with their trauma.