Senator Robin Padilla announced on Wednesday that he would be imposing stricter penalties on violators of the “Bawal Bastos Law,” as committee hearings on the case of actor Sandro Muhlach – who accused independent contractors of GMA Network of rape and molestation – were held.
As chair of the Senate Committee on Public Information and Mass Media, Padilla filed amendments to the Safe Spaces Act, citing findings of the hearings that showed workplace sexual harassment was still “active and rampant.”
Padilla’s proposed bill, the fines against employers who refuse to create an internal system or committee on decorum, or who fail to act on ways to prevent gender-based sexual harassment will be increased from P5,000 to P10,000 to P100,000 to P300,000.
Meanwhile, penalties for failure of employers to act on complaints of sexual harassment will similarly increase from P10,000 to P15,000 to between P300,000 and P500,000.
The bill also provides for an automatic P300,000 exemplary damages in case of conviction and extends the prescriptive period for filing a complaint from five to ten years.
