Carvajal: Equal

Friday, January 27, 2012

WHEN the United States proclaimed their independence on July 4, 1776, the signers held certain “truths to be self-evident” such as “that all men are created equal.” Yet, it is a fact that the signers treated Native Americans as “merciless Indian savages” and that some of them owned slaves. Slavery was not abolished until 1865 and while racial segregation was outlawed in the nineteen sixties, discrimination lingers to this day in the so-called “land of the free.”

The Philippines which patterns its democratic government after that of the U.S. also subscribes to the proposition “that all men are created equal.” Yet, how much equal treatment does Philippine society give to tribal minorities or lumads?

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More than democratic, this country is predominantly Christian and Christianity is essentially the brotherhood and sisterhood of God’s children. Yet, how much indignity do lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender (LGBT) persons (yes, persons!) suffer from their homophobic brothers and sisters in God’s family? As an aside to Catholic bishops, if women are men’s equal in dignity, why can’t they be ordained as priests?

If we believe that “all men are created equal,” how come we spend next to nothing for the right of pedestrians to have even-surfaced, clean and safe sidewalks while we spend millions for the right of vehicle owners to drive on roads, bridges and flyovers?

If senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWD’s) are anybody’s equals, why are skywalks accessible only through steep stairs that are impossible for them to negotiate? Wouldn’t a ramp be more equitable since it can be used by both the young and healthy and the old and persons with disabilities?

Indeed, if all students are equally gifted by the Creator with the same potential intelligence, why are those who are perceived as less mentally endowed herded into inferior Sections 2, 3, or 4?

And if workers are co-equals with owners and managers in dignity and rights, why are they voiceless at work and discriminated against when they exercise their right to organize to secure living wages and other benefits? If house maids and house boys are children of God just like the rest of us, why are so many of them treated like slaves by their brothers and sisters in God’s family of man?

If we believe that “all men are created equal,” approval of the anti-discrimination bill ought to be a no-brainer. Nevertheless, no one should entertain any illusions about its implementation. The struggle for equality by LGBTs, senior citizens, PWD’s, lumads, daily wage earners, housemaids/boys, women and children will be long and hard.

But the bill will be a welcome start. With it the discriminated can step firmly on the high road towards equality.