What is San Juan City’s LGBTQ+ health proxy ordinance?

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The measure was approved by the city council and Mayor Francis Zamora on May 5, and took effect on June 10, 15 days after its publication in a national newspaper

MANILA, Philippines – San Juan City passed an ordinance that allows LGBTQ+ couples and other eligible individuals the right to make medical decisions for their partners if needed.

The measure was approved by the city council and Mayor Francis Zamora on May 5, and took effect on June 10, 15 days after its publication in a national newspaper.

Under the ordinance, all health care providers within San Juan City’s jurisdiction are required to recognize and respect health care proxies issued by the city’s Gender and Development Office.

Through this proxy, individuals are granted the authority to:

• Give consent to provide bedside and nursing care services
• Give consent to perform or administer emergency medical and/or
• management
• Give consent to perform diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedure
• Give consent to hook to lifesaving devices such as but not limited
• to ventilator
• Give consent to declare “Do Not Resuscitate”
• Give consent to incubate
• Access medical information and records necessary to make informed decisions regarding their partner’s care

The ordinance also provides for the issuance of a Health Care Proxy ID in both physical and digital formats, either of which must be accepted by health care providers. Each ID must include:

• The names, signatures, and contact details of both the principal and the designated health care agent
• A QR code or similar feature linking to the digital copy of the proxy stored in a city-owned database
• Any additional information or design as deemed appropriate by the city

Rappler has reached out to the San Juan City government for details on how to avail of the health care proxy card, but it has yet to respond as of writing. This story will be updated once it does.

San Juan City is following the footsteps of Quezon City which passed a similar ordinance in 2023.

In the ordinance, the San Juan City government said that in the Philippines, hospitals and other medical facilities only allow legal spouses or next of kin to make important medical decisions in behalf of an individual, ruling out the presence of same-sex partners.

In 2024, Akbayan Representative Percival Cendaña filed House Bill No. 11005, or the Right to Care Act, seeking to institutionalize this right at the national level. – Rappler.com