Legarda: Gender-based price bias banned in new ‘Anti-Pink Tax’ bill

MANILA, Philippines — Have you ever observed that everyday consumer products marketed toward a specific gender are frequently more expensive than identical items targeted at another, despite being practically the same?

To eradicate this inequitable pricing practice, Sen. Loren Legarda has officially filed SBN 2483, or An Act prohibiting gender-based price discrimination in consumer goods and services, otherwise known as the Anti-Pink Tax Act, a landmark consumer protection measure designed to prohibit gender-based price discrimination, addressing the systemic economic disparity where goods and services are unequally priced based solely on the gender for which they are marketed or intended.

While widely referred to as “Pink-tax” it is not really a tax rather an unfair gender-pricing scheme that leverages gender discrimination to create more profit. Pink-tax disproportionately imposes an unjust financial burden predominantly on female consumers for purchasing daily necessities without any legitimate, gender-neutral cost justification.

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READ: This is why women’s products are often more expensive

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“Nakakaalarma na ginagamit pa ng mapagsamantala itong mga di pagkakapantay-pantay sa kasarian,” Legarda stated. “Tila ginagawang market strategy ang pagpapalalim ng diskriminasyon laban sa kababaihan. Sasabihing pambabae, papalitan lang ang kulay—naging pink lang, mas mahal na? Hindi po ito makatarungan.”

The economic impact of this discriminatory pricing is deeply compounded by existing income inequalities in the country. Data from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) indicates that Filipinas earn 8.6 percent less than men in agriculture and up to 18 percent less in the digital industry.

Despite this wage gap, local market comparisons reveal stark gendered markups, such as children’s toys carrying over a 20 percent markup for pink variants, and Metro Manila salons charging P2,500 for women’s haircuts compared to PHP 1,500 for men’s haircuts, regardless of hair length. Furthermore, pain relief medications with identical formulations can cost PHP 10 more simply for being marketed toward women.

Globally, the World Economic Forum highlights that women’s personal care products carry an average markup of 13%, and personal services can cost 34 percent to 90 percent more for women.

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To combat this, the “Anti-Pink Tax Act” establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework:

1. Clear Legal Standards — it makes it unlawful to impose a price differential on substantially similar consumer goods or services based solely on the target gender, noting that differences in color, packaging, or gendered marketing do not justify a price disparity.
2. Shifting the Evidentiary Burden — once a prima facie case of discriminatory pricing is established, the burden of proof shifts to the business to justify the price difference using verifiable, gender-neutral factors, such as labor or material costs.
3. Graduated Penalties — the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is empowered to issue compliance orders and levy administrative fines ranging from P50,000 to P1 million for non-compliant businesses.

The bill also mandates the DTI and the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) to conduct annual market-basket studies and nationwide consumer education campaigns. Progressive businesses that proactively eliminate these discrepancies may also apply for a voluntary “Gender-Neutral Pricing Pledge” certification.

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READ: Taxing super-rich a tool to close the gender gap

“Nais kong linawin, we are not implementing price controls; we are simply ensuring that businesses base their prices on actual production costs, not on gender identity or targeted marketing, mas lalong we are not favoring any gender here. Katunayan, ang Anti-pink Tax Act ay proteksyon din ng bawat indibidwal upang hindi patawan ng di makatarungang dagdag presyo dahil lang sa kanyang kasarian—mapababae, lalaki o miyembro ng LGBTQIA++ community. Ang layunin ng Anti-Pink Tax Act ay tuldukan ang mapagsamantalang sistemang ito para magkaroon ng patas na presyuhan para sa lahat,” the Senator emphasized.

“Ating tandaan, ang diskriminasyon sa kasarian ay nagsisimula sa pagtatalaga ng kulay sa kasarian. Bagaman, ating kinikilala ang kaibahan ng mga pangangailangan bawat kasarian, dapat malinaw ang pagpapataw ng dagdag presyo batay sa dagdag na benepisyo o serbisyo—hindi lamang dahil ang katangian nito ay itinalaga nating panlalaki o pambabae.”

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The passage of this bill will institutionalize protections currently absent in the Consumer Act of the Philippines, ensuring fundamental equality before the law and protecting the economic security of consumers nationwide. /cb