The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading a bill extending the right of married women to retain their maiden surname.
The lower chamber approved House Bill 10459 by a 227-0 vote. The bill amends the New Civil Code of the Philippines or Republic Act 386 as amended.
Proponents said the bill’s enactment would provide equality between men and women before the law by allowing married women to retain their maiden surname.
The bill provides that married women may use any of the following:
• Maiden first name and surname;
• Maiden first name and surname and add her husband’s surname;
• Maiden first name and her husband’s surname; or
• Husband’s full name, but prefixing a word indicating that she is his wife, such as “Mrs.”
At present, married women could not solely use their maiden first name and surname after marriage without their husband’s surname.