Resignation is a Choice

It is ironic that the person designated by Congress to act as its Chairperson of the Committee on Human Rights seems to be afflicted with a severe incapacity to grasp the core tenets of human rights. Rep. Bienvenido Abante, from the 6th District of Manila City, despite being tasked with the vital responsibility of not only protecting human rights, but also championing it and furthering it, seems to be setting the cause backwards.

Case in point: the battle to pass the human rights bill penalizing discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders. That battle in now squarely in the House of Representatives, where ironically, the Chairperson himself is blocking the bill's passage.

Nowhere else but in the Philippines, right? In his controversial speech delivered last month, Rep. Abante provoked shock when he began spouting godly nonsense. The congressman, who it turns out is also a Baptist pastor, warned his captive audience that the passage of the bill would invite the wrath of God and would mean "death to the most cherished Filipino values of Godliness and moral rectitude."

Obviously not schooled in basic concepts of equal protection, as found in our Constitution (much less international human rights), Rep. Abante concluded that the bill would run against the equal protection clause of the Constitution because it would give undue preference to lesbians and gays. In his logic-defying speech, Abante tried to invoke boxing figures Pacquiao and Morales, and in a patent attempt to emotionally color his arguments, labeled Morales as gay, and local hero Pacquiao as straight (naturally!).

This is what our Chairperson said (side comments obviously mine):

"Please allow me to illustrate for purposes of clarity (Yeah, right). Let us imagine a scenario in a workplace, there are two persons whom we may call Pacquiao, as a straight male, and the other, Morales, as a homosexual." (Not knowing that lots of females, gay men, and even straight guys actually have the hots for Morales.)

"Both Manny and Morales are eligible for a job promotion. Their supervisor whom we may call Arum (how original) hates homosexuals and thus, chooses Pacquiao to go up the corporate ladder. Under House Bill No. 634, Morales could pursue charges against the supervisor, and the latter may be penalized for his personal preference in favor of the straight male. However, let us try to reverse the situation at this particular example. What if the supervisor chooses Morales, the homosexual, over Pacquiao, the straight guy? Does Pacquiao who was discriminated against in this instance, have a cause of action against the supervisor? Under House Bill No. 634, there is no pain of penalty against the biased supervisor."

And your point is what exactly, Mr. Chairman? I admit I'm stumped here, and so I'll just leave it to you readers to try to figure that one out. Not only that, here are some more juicy bits from his speech:

"If I may quote, Genesis, Chapter I, when it spoke of creation, the Bible says, "Male and female created Eden." I do not find in the Bible that God created male and female and the in-betweens. Mr. Speaker, I find in the Bible that God created Adam and Eve. I do not find in the Bible that God created Adam and Steve."

(Let me lend you mine, maybe you'll find it interesting.)

"Let me share with you, the observations lesbian activist Camille Paglia offered and I quote, 'Homosexuality is not normal.' That's what she said and she is a lesbian activist, Mr. Speaker. 'On the contrary, it is a challenge to the norm. Nature exists, whether academics like it or not and in nature, procreation is that single relentless rule that is the norm. Our sexual bodies were designed for reproduction. No one is born gay.' She said that 'the idea is ridiculous. Homosexuality is an adaptation, not an inborn trait.'"

(And so it's ok to discriminate on that basis?)

"Mr. Speaker, my being a male is not my choice, that was Divine choice. Women being women is not their choice, that is Divine choice, and no human being has the right to go against God's choice, Mr. Speaker,"

(Yeah, just like being a bigot is God's choice too.)

Time to resign, Mr. Chairman, you do the post a disservice.