Monday, April 21, 2008 Unplugged: ‘The biggest challenge is our own way of thinking’ By Gerome M. Dalipe Sun.Star Cebu Correspondent
A FORMER broadcast journalist and peace activist, Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel of Akbayan party-list is not only well known as women rights campaigner, she is also known for her unwavering dedication to uplift the lives of marginalized Filipinos.
Nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize for her crusade on the issue of peace and human rights, the House deputy minority leader was a member of the government peace panel conducting negotiations with the rebel group CPP-NPA in 1998.
Baraquel is also an advocate of agrarian reform, particularly in the implementation of the genuine agrarian reform and assailing the violent acts committed against ordinary farmers.
She filed the CARL (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) Extension Bill, a bill that pushes not only for the extension of CARL but also for a more meaningful program that is better suited to the needs of the farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries.
At the House of Representatives, Baraquel filed 33 bills since she assumed office. Among these bills are the Reproductive Health Bill, which aims to provide women with the necessary reproductive health information to empower them and protect them from sexually-transmitted diseases; the Anti-Prostitution Bill, which looks at prostitution as a symptom of inequitable and exploitative social structures and prostitutes as victims rather than criminals; and the Gender Balance Bill, which will ensure women’s
representation in all structures of governance.
Likewise, Baraquel’s filing of the House Bill (HB) 956, or the Anti-discrimination Bill for gays and lesbians, continued reaping support from the lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgendered (LGBT) community.
Sun.Star Cebu talked with Baraquel about HB 965 when she was invited as keynote speaker to a forum on good governance in Cebu City recently.
What prompted you to file this bill?
This was through the leadership of the Akbayan gay and lesbian collective. For the past several years, they have been continuing to document non-stop cases of
discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender in many areas of the Philippines.
In schools, Akbayan youths have documented that. In workplaces, Akbayan labors have documented that. In government offices, Akbayan labor also (documented that) through the public sectors. Even in the armed services of the state, the AFP and the PNP.
Even though the rights and dignity of every person regardless of gender orientation and sexual preferences are guaranteed by international instruments like the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and our Constitution, still this have been honored more in the breach.
So nakita ng Akbayan gay and lesbian collective, we actually need to pass a law, the Anti-Discrimination Law, that provides them not any additional or special rights compared to other citizens, but simply gives the force of law to international and constitutional mandates.
One extreme case of discrimination is violence against LGBT like hate crime.
Ang dami nang naitala na pananakit, pagpatay, pag-sexually harass sa mga LGBT and this case in the Vicente Sotto (Memorial District Hospital) is just one of the most
recent and most shocking.
But we hope it will give us sense of urgency to the House of Representatives na idinig na itong House Bill 956.
The bill lists several discriminatory practices that you seek to be penalized. Which of these are prevalent and how do you specifically address these?
Addressing them by way of setting up the policies in law but kapag may violation pa rin, providing some sanctions. For example, discrimination against LGBT in schools, may mga eskwelahan na hindi tatangapin ang estudyante kung “questionable” ‘yung sexual preference niya. May ibang aplikante na pakukuhanin ng masculinity test or papipirmahan ng form na they will not engage in homosexual relationship while enrolling the school.
Sa mga work places, ganun din. Kapag hindi straight ‘yung gender orientation ng isang aplikante, may mga cases na documented na hindi siya ang pinili for a job application despite having been the most qualified applicant for that position. Sa government offices, kunwari minsan kapag may dalawang gay men or lesbians na mag-a-apply for services in a certain government office maaring i-dedeny sila kung tinitingnan na sila’y nasa same sex marriage. Sinasabi namin regardless of gender orientation, a naturally born citizen, bilang mamamayan ng bansa na nagbabayad ng buwis, botante is entitled to the same service and access to the services of the same procedures regardless of gender preferences.
How exactly can the bill protect people like the homosexual in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) case?
By providing the policy framework of the law and providing sanction and penalty. If now there may be no specific category such as hate crimes against LGBT in the Revised Penal Code, then our bill, if it becomes a law, could be a step in that direction.
How do you asses the gender awareness in the Philippines? Do you think that government is doing enough to promote awareness of gender identity and the need to respect individual choices?
I think we still have a long way to go. Bagamat, napaka-assertive ng ating women’s movement at lumakas na rin ang ating LGBT movement, we still do our own internal housework also para pagkaisahin yung aming mga kilusan. In terms of really internalizing that non-homophobic, non-sexist, non-misogynist attitude among all Filipinos towards women and towards LGBT, medyo malayo-layo pa kasi naman yung legacies ng Spanish at American colonialisms and even our own Filipino brand of machismo, kailangan pa natin pagtrabahohin ang ating mga sarili.
Our administration has made the right noises during elections, sa pagsuporta daw laban sa discrimination against women. Hindi pa sila nag-iingay ng tama katulad nito ng anti-discrimination bill. Pero dapat rin naman sapat ang mga batas at polisiya, dapat ipakita in action. Kung titingnan natin ang trapo politics natin, itong lahat ay tanda ng pagkukulang pa sa pagiging gender-sensitive talaga natin.
Would the (VSMMC) act fall under the discriminatory practices defined under the draft of the Anti-Discrimination Act? Why?
I think so. Yung hate crime ay yung ginawa sa victim na pinasok yung deodorant spray sa kanyang katawan. Pero yung ginawa ng mga doctor, teribleng violations din yan. Violations ng privacy, human dignity, and confidentiality of patient-doctor relationship or even of the violation of their oath to serve the people and to do no harm. So yun talaga ang magiging argument namin sa Akbayan. It falls under what the anti-discrimination bill bills seeks to prevent.
Personally, what do you find most challenging about the campaign to seek fair treatment regardless of gender preferences?
The biggest challenge is our own way of thinking. Kasi, bawat isa sa atin halos ay mayroong kahit ilang degree ng machismo, or homophobia, or patriarchy dahil galing tayo sa ating kultura so tayong lahat ay bahagi rin ng problemang ito so tayong lahat sana maging bahagi rin ng solution by changing our own attitude, by changing our way of relating to each other. Dapat sana the way we treat each other as equals as human beings, as citizens as creatures of God and the universe.
