San Juan City residents get 'Right to Care'

Members and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community join San Juan City's second Pride March in 2018. Photo from Team ONE San Juan-Mayor Janella Ejercito Estrada/Facebook

LGBTQIA+ couples in San Juan City can now make medical decisions for their partners after an ordinance passed by the city council recognizing their right to make medical decisions for their partners took effect.

"Steadfast to its duty and commitment, the 7th City Council deems it necessary to enact laws that would uphold the lives and ensure the protection of the rights and healthcare of its constituents, in this case, particularly the common law partners and LGBTQIA+ community in the City of San Juan," read the ordinance that took effect today, June 10.

The ordinance mandates all healthcare providers in the San Juan to recognize and respect the use of the "Health Care Proxy" issued by the city's Gender and Development Office.

The health care proxy has the authority to give consent to provide bedside and nursing care services, perform or administer emergency medical and/or management, perform diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures, hook to lifesaving devices like ventilators, no longer resuscitate, and incubate a patient.

The ordinance also provides that San Juan City will recognize instruments similar to the Health Care Proxy ID, like Quezon City's pioneering Right to Care Card.

People who use fake Health Care Proxy IDs and Right to Care Cards, and healthcare providers who violate the ordinance shall be punished by a fine of P5,000 and/or jail time of up to six months.

The Right to Care Card, a collaboration between creative agency MullenLowe TREYNA and the Quezon City Gender and Development Council, was launched nearly two years ago.

The Family Code of the Philippines limits marriage between a man and a woman, which means LGBTQIA+ couples cannot enjoy the same rights as married heterosexual couples, including the right to make medical decisions for their partners.

To give this power to LGBTQIA+ couples, Creative agency MullenLowe TREYNA and the Quezon City Gender and Development Council thought of repurposing a legal instrument — the Special Power of Attorney.

"[This is] something that has been deprived of us and has not been experienced by any queer person for the longest time," said Adrian de Guzman, one of the brains behind the Right to Care Card in a 2024 article by Adobo Magazine.

"As a queer person, having the chance to own something that can make me feel like I am accepted in society feels so surreal,” said Paulo dela Rosa, another key mind behind the Right to Care Card in the same article.