Marcos urged to go beyond ‘toothless’ EO for LGBT concerns

MANILA, Philippines — Discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons cannot be sufficiently addressed by a "special" government body led by non-experts in gender equality and human rights, an LGBTQ+ rights advocate said on Wednesday.

The chairperson of Bahaghari Philippines, an alliance of LGBTQIA+ advocates and organizations, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should go beyond “political doublespeak” and command the speedy passage of the long-stalled SOGIE bill in Congress instead. 

“We hope that President Marcos will no longer skirt around the issue, because we have never failed to be vocal about our demand: an actual law that would protect us from discrimination,” Bahaghari Chairperson Reyna Valmores said in Filipino in an interview with ANC’s "Headstart."

Valmores said that the recently issued Executive Order (EO) 51 creates a special committee “with constituents who are not experts in gender equality and human rights.”

The LGBTQ advocate also pointed out that the EO is “not a new EO” as it amends a previous order issued by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019.

“To say it bluntly, this was not felt by ordinary Filipinos, especially ordinary LGBTQ persons. We feel that this EO (51) will also be toothless. In fact, the SOGIE equality bill — the whole idea of having a body that oversees LGBT concerns — it is already included there,” Valmores added.

On December 23, Malacañang issued EO 51 reinforcing the government's Diversity and Inclusion Program (DIP) with the goal of addressing the "continued discrimination" experienced by LGBTQ persons. Under the program, a special committee on LGBTQ affairs will lead the implementation of the DIP and review all existing policies related to LGBTQ issues.

According to EO 51, the special committee will be chaired by a government official with the rank of an undersecretary and will have members with the rank of an assistant secretary, “who shall all be appointed by the President from among the members of reputable organizations representing the LGBTQIA+ community.”

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Valmores said that the special panel might be reduced to "another means to obtain funding" for government officials. 

“We've seen the document on who the members of the committee will be. It's the same people that don't speak to the experiences of the LGBT," the LGBTQ+ advocate added.

Valmores said that the panel should have drawn its core members from civil society and non-government organizations who have expertise in gender and human rights.

“Dozens from the LGBT community are already speaking out about our issues in the hearings of the SOGIE bill, and we don't feel it’s something we have been lacking on,” Valmores said.

The rights advocate also said that whatever the president designates as a priority measure would clear Congress in record time, such as the bills creating the Maharlika Investment Fund and the Mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, among others.  

“If President Marcos was really committed and had the political will to pass SOGIE, it can be passed in less than a month,” Valmores added.

Legislation that seeks to prohibit the discrimination of people's sexual orientation, gender identity and expression have stalled in both chambers of Congress for years due to lawmakers’ and faith-based organizations’ arguments that these would infringe on religious rights.

In the last House marathon hearing on SOGIE measures, evangelical groups attempted to block its passage at the committee level due to concerns that have already been debated in previous Congresses, such as respect for religious freedom, concerns on necrophilia and pedophilia and the conflation of same-sex marriage with SOGIESC discrimination, among others. 

RELATED: No same-sex marriage in SOGIE bill approved by House panel