Villanueva eyes holding first rules panel hearing on SOGIE bill next week
MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said Friday he is hoping to hold next week the rules panel’s first hearing on a contentious bill that seeks to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression (SOGIE).
Villanueva, who chairs the powerful rules committee that calendars bills, told reporters in a virtual briefing that he is speaking with other senators to set the schedule of his panel’s closed-door hearing on the measure.
He said some senators, including Sens. Alan Peter Cayetano and Imee Marcos, have floated the idea of merging the anti-discrimination measure, more popularly known as the SOGIE bill, into a broader anti-discrimination bill.
In December 2022, the Senate women and gender panel chaired by Sen. Risa Hontiveros had come up with a committee report after one hearing on the SOGIE bill, but this was never heard in plenary.
Bombarded with letters from evangelical groups who said they have not been given enough time to air their views, 18 senators signed a manifesto to have the measure reverted to the committee level. In plenary, Villanueva then moved to have it referred to his panel.
"I think it’s been clearly stated and manifested, Madame President, that indeed, we have to hold our horses and give chance to these groups, these sectors to be heard," Villanueva said during a Senate session last month.
In her manifestation, Hontiveros said "we have been listening to and hearing religious groups for 23 years," referring to the length of time that the SOGIE bill has been languishing in Congress. Still, she said, she is "willing to keep on engaging and listening in good faith."
While the Senate sent the measure to the rules committee despite Hontiveros’ strong objections, Villanueva has assured that the SOGIE bill will not languish in his panel.
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