Bing Guanzon’s book on the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act has been cataloged in The Library of Congress, making her the only living Filipino author with a women’s rights book currently listed in the U.S. national library.
The book, The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act Notes and Cases, published by the University of the Philippines Law Center, provides an in-depth discussion of the Philippines’ Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995. It combines statutory interpretation with case analysis and has long been used as a reference in Philippine legal education. Library of Congress records show the title has been assigned a formal classification number, confirming its preservation as part of the institution’s permanent research collection.
The same book is also listed in the Yale University Law School Library and is held by other major academic institutions worldwide, including Harvard University, Stanford University, the UC Berkeley, and the National Library of Australia. Its inclusion places a Philippine-authored legal text on women’s rights within leading global research collections.
Guanzon’s listing adds to a career that spans public service, legislation, and academia. She was appointed Officer-in-Charge of Cadiz City at age 28 following the 1986 People Power Revolution and later became the youngest elected mayor of Cadiz City, serving from 1986 to 1992. She later served in national constitutional bodies, including the Commission on Audit in 2013 as part of its historic all-female leadership team, and the Commission on Elections from 2015 to 2022, where she chaired the COMELEC Gender and Development Committee.
Earlier in her career, Guanzon served as chief of staff to the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and worked as a Senate consultant in the drafting of landmark legislation, including the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act. In academia, she taught Election Law, Local Government, and Public Officers at the University of the Philippines College of Law and authored several legal textbooks used in Philippine law schools.
Her work has been recognized through multiple honors, including the Outstanding Alumna in Gender Equality Award from the University of the Philippines Alumni Association, the Outstanding Sillimanian Award for public service and legal excellence, and the AFS Mabuhay Award. She graduated in the top ten of her class at UP College of Law and later earned a master’s degree from Harvard University as an Edward S. Mason Fellow.
The timing of the book’s Library of Congress listing coincides with the approach of March, which is observed globally as International Women’s Month.
With the listing of The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act Notes and Cases, PGMN has the only living Filipino author currently listed in the Library of Congress catalog with a book on women’s rights.
