Senate Conducts Historic First Hearing on SOGIE-Specific Anti-Discrimination Bill

Wazzup Pilipinas!
Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday conducts the first-ever hearing on a proposed landmark measure that seeks to protect the rights of persons with different sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE).

Hontiveros, Chair of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality, filed Senate Bill No. 935 otherwise known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB) which seeks to expand the constitutional provision guaranteeing the fundamental equality before the law of women and men to include lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, queers and intersex.

The hearing is considered “historic” as this is the first anti-discrimination measure focusing on SOGIE that will be heard in the Senate. It was reported that former Akbayan Congresswoman Etta Rosales filed the bill at the House of Representatives seventeen years ago.

"Today is a historic day for the struggle for equality of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and queer. Today, the Philippine Senate will hear for the first time a bill that explicitly protects LGBT rights and imposes penalties on discriminatory practices against LGBTs," Hontiveros said in her opening statement.

Hontiveros explained that her bill seeks to penalize discriminatory practices such as harassment by members of institutions involved in the enforcement of law and declare unlawful the act.of denying a person access to public or private medical and other health services open to the general public on the basis of such person's sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

Following the UN Human Rights Committee Decision in Toonen v Australia, Hontiveros said her bill will put under the scope of the Equal Protection Clause the rights of persons with different sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Hontiveros said that there are numerous cases of discrimination against LGBTs such as transwomen who were being denied the right to express their gender identity in schools and in the workplace; gay men who could not donate blood because of a government memorandum prohibiting homosexuals from doing so, and law enforcers threatening LGBTs of prosecution for Grave Scandal under Article 200 of the Revised Penal Code as a scheme to harass and to extort from them, among others.

“Ang laban na ito ay para sa lahat ng batang bakla, lesbyana, transgender na nalilito, nagtatanong at pinagkaitan ng patas na pagkakataon. Ang laban na ito ay para sa lahat ng naghahanap ng pagmamahal, pag-uunawa, pagtanggap, anuman ang kasarian. Ang laban na ito ay para sa pagkakapantay-pantay," Hontiveros said. #




Opening Remarks of Senator Risa Hontiveros during the Committee Hearing on the Anti-Discrimination Bill

Today is a historical day for the struggle for equality of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, intersex and queer. Today, the Philippine Senate will hear for the first time a bill that explicitly protects LGBT rights and imposes penalties on discriminatory practices against LGBTs. It was seventeen years ago when the Anti-Discrimination Bill was first filed in Congress by former Akbayan congresswoman and human rights champion Etta Rosales. Ngayon lang nadinig sa mataas na kamara.

The passage of anti-discrimination for SOGIE (or sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression) is long overdue. Cases of discrimination and inequality have remained invisible to our national policies and reduced to insignificance by homophobia and stigma. The reports document experiences of transwomen who were being denied the right to express their gender identity in schools and in the workplace; of gay men who could not donate blood because of a government memorandum prohibiting homosexuals from doing so; of gay couples who could be beside each other in the hospital. There were transwomen who were forced by authorities to appear masculine before their passports could be renewed. There were also law enforcers threatening LGBTIQs of prosecution for Grave Scandal under Article 200 of the Revised Penal Code as a scheme to harass and to extort from them. There were cases of gender non-conforming students who were being bullied in schools affecting their performance and ultimately their access to education. There were people living with HIV AIDS who were made more vulnerable by the prevailing stigma against men who have sex with men and transgenders, putting in peril their fundamental right to quality and effective healthcare.

Ang laban na ito ay para sa kanila. Ang laban na ito ay para kay Jimmy Vosotros; para kay Barbie Anne Reiley, para kay Jennifer Laude. Ang laban na ito ay para sa lahat ng batang bakla, lesbyana, transgender na nalilito, nagtatanong, binubully sa playground. Ang laban na ito ay para sa lahat ng naghahanap ng pagmamahal, pag-uunawa, pagtanggap, anuman ang kasarian. Ang laban na ito ay para sa pagkakapantay-pantay.

I firmly believe that the 17th Congress will be the Congress that will pass the Anti-Discrimination Law. The Centennial Senate will be the Senate that will finally say no to hate. Sa ating diskurso ngayong hapon, hinihingi ko ang inyong “bukas-isip” at “bukas-puso”.

It is my honor to shepherd this bill to its eventual passage, as a friend and ally of our beautiful and vibrant LGBTIQ community.

The Alyan Robin Hood Fan Art That Borrowed From Arrow

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With regards to Alyas Robin Hood being a copycat or not, maybe in the future we could all try to steer away from the familiar or overused concepts, or in this case, characters... so our projects will not be perceived as recycled or copied.

This thinking is evident to how the fan art was created. The artist may have quickly connected or associated it to Arrow thus that is where he patterned his artwork, which also gave the readers the false impression that Alyas Robin Hood is merely a copied version of Arrow.

Even the video teasers were perceived to have similarities to how Arrow is presented on the Hollywood TV series thus being seen as clearly influenced by the same.

Claiming the Pinoy TV show is in reference to the original Robin Hood may not be totally believable since Robin Hood does not usually roam the land during night time (as depicted in most movies where he and his merry men robs from the rich during daytime). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

In any case, let us say I'm trying to research on a possible idea for a fan art for Alyas Robin Hood, would a Google search for Robin Hood bring out Arrow as a result? It would not. At least on the first page results. Closes to Hollywood works would be the movies starred by Kevin Costner, Russel Crowe, etc. 

Top of mind, especially for millennials, would be what is currently, or was lately, shown. Thus, we can easily deduct that the artist really patterned his work after an Arrow poster since that's probably what was first on his mind when he saw the video teasers, and Googled for the Arrow TV series instead.

GMA 7 should realize that the popularity of "Arrow" would obviously connect to Alyas Robin Hood since it's the most recent image of the original, may it be Robin Hood or any other hooded hero with a bow and arrow. It is not surprising that people will think first of Arrow, and accuse Alyas Robin Hood as a copycat even if the story is totally different.

LionhearTV should not have used GMA 7's logo in their own poster because it somehow implies that they are in partnership with the TV station in the creation of the poster, or even the TV series itself. They maybe doing this kind of thing for years, but that could also mean fans have probably thought that their fan arts were actual part of the promotional campaign materials of the TV series or movies.

The lay out of the logos ( LionhearTV at the left and GMA7 at the right) is somehow deceiving to those not familiar of their usual works. Similar layouts would mean that both share ownership of the event, project, campaign, etc. just as in media partnerships where all the logos of sponsors and partners are shown on the posters, banners, streamers, etc. 

Maybe they should either mention it is a fan-art or put their logo somewhere else to clearly indicate it is their own fan art. Many of their readers probably believed the previous fan arts were part of the campaign or promotional efforts of the TV or movie production. Nowadays, not too many could differentiate the real from the fictional or satire.

Duterte's #WarOnDrugs Remains to be a Failure Unless He Adds a Rehab Component

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"Imagine our country without a presumption of innocence, to imagine our country that once you're named, you are guilty. That's exactly the situation now."

#WarOnDrugs should really be a war on drugs and not a war on humanity. Instead, the drug war has dehumanized people.

Malacañang claims that the government is winning the war against illegal drugs. The war on drugs was said to have widespread support, with President Rody Duterte enjoying a 91% approval rating at the end of July, largely due to his hard-line position.

Is it really? Go ahead, keep telling that to yourselves!

The war on drugs has become a polarizing affair that is dividing a nation weary of criminal rampancy. At one end are the police trying to effect much-needed change while at the opposite side are legislators affirming the rule of law.

However, no matter how loudly I say that the war on drugs is a failure, my comments will not signal any substantial change since the government is never listening. The PNP Chief, Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, himself has issued an order to the police that they should kill anybody resisting arrest and worry about human rights violations later. There have been many reports that people get killed even if they surrendered peacefully. The statements of the police are also mostly seen unbelievable and illogical.

What is wrong with Duterte's War on Drugs? It does not have a Rehab component.

We should also bring in methods against this madness by learning from the experience of other countries. Brute force is never the answer.

It only aims to purge the suspected drug users and pushers, and never to rehabilitate them. The crackdown is absolutely flawed and done to make up the numbers so that people will think the Duterte administration is indeed successful. It has created suffering on an unimaginable scale, with no discernible benefit.

"My order is shoot to kill you. I don't care about human rights" - Duterte

The death toll has reached nightmare proportions. People are being killed without going through the due process of law. This is not really a battle between drug cartels and government forces, rather a purging of the defenseless poor who, unlike their affluent counterparts, have no financial sources to be blackmailed by the government.

Death squads, prisons full to bursting – and a leader who wants citizens to kill drug dealers to “make his day.”

This is how the new President of the Philippines has been waging the “war on drugs.”

“Do your duty, and if in the process you kill 1,000 persons because you were doing your duty, I will protect you.” - Duterte

It's time to admit that the war on drugs was merely invented to excuse systemic discrimination, incarceration and police intervention. The Philippines' war on drugs has gone out of hand! The president himself is motivating the police to kill even if they violate human rights and due process of law.

Do we easily give up on humanity by thinking it is pointless to even try to turn them back into responsible and decent members of the society?

How could we think that low?

I believe man is inherently good, and those who are misguided are merely victims of circumstances. Everyone could still change for the better if given the proper means to improve themselves. We should never lose hope on our fellow men.

"Let's investigate the entire drug problem. Let it be more systematic, not personality oriented." After all, it should be a war on drugs and not a war on its users.

Why are the police are under “shoot-to-kill” orders for drug suspects? Have we totally approved on scrapping the due process of law? Is the justice system really that bad that the President refuses to subject the suspects through it in fear of just having the suspects released?

"Drug-related killings are slowly becoming the terrifying norm. As we sleep, amid the elation and anger, cheers and protests, the blood spill continues."

The Duterte administration's war on drugs has earned critical views from the international media. It has done more harm than good. Hundreds of people continue to be arrested, and killed, for drug offenses, alarming everyone that this government is never going to give any suspect the due process of law.

Are we expecting more people killed in the next days? This will be a nightmarish 6 years under the Duterte administration.