House okays on final reading bill allowing married women to keep maiden surname

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on the third and final reading a bill allowing married women to retain their maiden surname.

House Bill 4605, which garnered 277 yes votes, zero no votes, and no abstention, amends Section 1, Article 370, Title 9, Book 3 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines by stating that a married woman has four options for identification:

• her maiden first name and surname;
• her maiden first name and surname, then add her husband’s surname;
• her maiden first name and her husband’s surname; and
• her husband’s full name prefixed with a word indicating that she is his wife such as Mrs.

Under the existing Civil Code, married women are allowed to identify with the following three options:

• her maiden first name and surname then add her husband’s surname;
• her maiden first name and her husband’s surname; and
• her husband’s full name, but prefixing a word indicating that she is his wife, such as Mrs.

“This upholds the right of married women to retain their maiden surnames even after marriage and provides married women options in the surname that they may use after marriage,” the committee report on the measure read.

House Assistant Minority Leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela party-list, one of the authors of the measure, cited that the absence of such explicit legislation allowing the continued use of a woman's surname even after marriage, as well as Philippine tradition and a patriarchal view on marriage in society, have given the impression that upon marriage, women have no choice but to adopt the surnames of their husbands.

She also invoked the Memorandum Circular issued by the Philippine Commission on Women in 2016 wherein the state-run agency reported that it has received many complaints from different individuals of married women's applications being rejected for not using their husband's surname.

“Such discrimination has tainted women's right to choose their family name. House Bill 4605 is a step to recognizing that even with a change of civil status, women can still retain their maiden surname, and no government agency should force them to use a different surname just because they are married,” Brosas said in her sponsorship speech.

Brosas said the use of the husband's surname is rooted in the country's patriarchal history and culture where the wife is considered as a husband's possession.

“Women have the right to choose their family name. Consequently, should her surname be changed to that of her husband's upon marriage, she should also have the right to revert to her maiden surname. No woman should be forced to retain her husband's surname when their relationship is already permanently soured, and the use of it becomes a constant reminder of their failed relationship," Brosas said.

"This form of discrimination against women must end,” she added. —NB, GMA Integrated News