2 weeks ago, I attended a Coffee Session of Mulat Pinoy because I’ve been out of the lgbt circuit for quite some time and I’m eager to thirst my intellect with stuff outside my work. Thanks to Bubbles for sharing this in her Facebook. Anyway, the topic was about Population and Gender with speakers coming from different sectors (DSWD, UP Population Institution, LGBT groups and advocates and representatives from Feminist Groups as well). The LGBT representation is really evident, and the discussion revolved around the LGBT situation here in the Philippines.

Ms. Rina Jimenez-David pointed out that in our way of thinking that is being imposed on children is very heterocentric. I very much agree to this, the conservatism of the Department of Education seem to wary away the existence of LGBTs in Philippine society. Why is there fear? Why is there a perception of LGBTs being imposed on the child very negative? To prevent children in doing bad things, some adults would say “sige ka, ibibigay kita sa bakla”. This statement alone already has a pre-conceived notion that gays or LGBTs are monsters. Children who are socialized in this kind of homophobic statements, whether it was intentional or unintentional, can lead to hatred against LGBTs. Angie Umbac of Rainbow Rights and Ang Ladlad suggested that children today should have good role models. I assume that this “good role model” is not in the absolutely related to religion but role models who simply respect other people’s differences.

Dra. Zablan from the Population Institute stated with conviction that we should have a paradigm shift. I guess this is the ideal thing to do but in reality, it can’t happen overnight. Education is the key to gear up this shift that we need; the shift from heterocentric to gender-sensitive paradigms as well as prioritizing human rights. Theories and Ideals should’t only be kept inside our brains but also in practice. By continuing to question on the existing heterocentric paradigms, we will be able to achieve a gender sensitive way of thinking wherein no one will ever care on one’s sexuality but the his/her capacity. Suntok sa buwan ito, ika nga. But rather than spreading hatred on the LGBTs, spreading gender equality among ourselves would be a worthy thing to do.

I stumbled upon this article from GMA News Tv about having additional public toilets exclusively for the use of LGBTs. Leo Martinez’s party list group, Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz Inc, pushes that gays and lesbians should have their own toilets with labels “gay male” and “gay female” on it because they experience discrimination whenever they use the usual male and female toilets.

Yes, I agree that discrimination happens whenever a member of the LGBT go inside the usual male and female toilets because of the physical manifestation that they don’t belong there BUT I don’t think that having “gay toilets”, as their group wants to call it, is the solution to eradicate discrimation. I believe that having one only creates separatism to the heterosexual world. The LGBT right that I pursue is the one that will make us LGBTs live harmoniously with the dominant heterosexual world. We need to let heterosexuals not see us as individuals that need special treatments such as this but we want to live in a world wherein gender and sexuality will not matter. We wanted to live in a world wherein our own strengths and capacities will be recognized not because we are LGBTs but because we are human.

It is the mindset of the people that we need to change and not by adding “gay toilets”. Building physical structures won’t change anything. There will still be homophobia. There  will be discrimination.

Thanks Mr. Martinez and to the people involved with Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz for thinking about LGBT rights. We need to attack the root of the problem and not be contented in solving the problem from the surface.

Ang Ladlad partylist was denied to run as such because of immorality. The Commission on Elections allowed plunderers, corrupt individuals and liars to run.  Now where is justice there? Where is democracy? Why not let the people decide?

Even Jesus does not discriminate.

Below is a repost from a fellow LGBT advocate, Anne Lim of Galang:

As we were savoring the last few hours of the work-free holiday season (in typical NGO fashion, i tuned out of work mode after december 19th as best as i could), lala and i saw this poster (see photos) in at least 2 street posts in katipunan avenue corner santolan. this poster was definitely a rude welcome to 2010. nothing jerks one from vacation mode as quickly as a poster that has the words “lesbian”, “gay”, “satan”, and “hell” all in one sentence and all within a stone’s throw away from the house i grew up in. like the haters during the pride march, this poster must energize us and remind us that we have our work cut out for us in the months to come. bigotry and religious fundamentalisms were alive and kicking even during the season of giving. to fellow believers in and advocates of human rights, let us stay focused and relentless in working for LGBT rights. the haters are getting bolder and ever closer to home.

You are invited to the forum –

Speakers:
Dr. Sylvia Estrada Claudio: Framing the discussion on identity politics: What is it, what are the struggles of the marginalized and does postmodern politics present a better approach to identity politics

Atty. Germaine Leonin: Women, LGBTs and identity politics

Dean Marvic Leonen: Indigenous peoples and identity

Prof. Ibarra Guitierrez: Marginalization, identity and the party list law

Reactors: Atty. Louie Guia (Libertas) Karen Dumpit (CHR)

Whenever I have the time, I watch Pinoy Big Brother Double Up because of Rica Paras. It’s like whenever I watch PBB, I feel a certain connection with her because she’s one one us (LGBT) and it just felt so good to see someone like her in Philippine mass media. I always became curious on how her housemates will treat her when they knew that she’s a transgender. It’s a given, probably, because of the kind of society we have right now.

I don’t believe that there are issues of her being incapable of working in a team. In fact, she has shown her leadership in some of the tasks and putting her in a bad light because she is a transgender is very wrong.

This reality show is somehow a mirror of Filipino culture and now you see right before your eyes on how one treats a transgender individual. It’s frustrating to know that this kind of behavior is being inculcated more in Philippine television. I hope Big Brother will intervene and teach the housemates who only proliferate transphobia. Just like what Big Brother did with the husband and wife couple there ( I forgot their names ) when someone pretended to be the husband of this girl. This task was to teach the real husband that having an affair outside marriage is heartbreaking especially when you see your wife in the arms of another man.

Below is the official statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) where Rica Paras is a part of.

Official Statement of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) on the recent happenings inside the Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) House involving Rica Paras.

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
–Anonymous

She-man. Mumu. Half-half. Samson and Delilah. These are just a few of the derogatory comments heard recently from PBB Double Up Housemates Rob Stumvol, Patrick Villanueva, Hermes Bautista, Mariel Sorino, Yuri Okawa and most especially Rocky Salumbides in referring to Rica Paras. We, her sisters in STRAP, join the rest of the world’s loyal audiences who watch PBB Double Up diligently in expressing our dismay, disappointment and disbelief in this blatant show of anti-transgender prejudice or transphobia. STRAP condemns to the highest degree this senseless bigotry and calls on Big Brother to intervene and put a stop to the hate happening right under his watchful eye.

Ever since Rica entered the PBB House, she has always carried herself well. She has never been a burden to her housemates but instead has proven to be an asset to them with her leadership skills, quick thinking and positive attitude. She has helped in household chores, shared her talents selflessly, related wholeheartedly with her housemates, and always contributed to the completion of tasks in the best way she could. The whole world knows that Rica has been nothing but a consistent team player, a shoulder to cry on, a loyal friend and a loving and reliable sister to all of her housemates.

We are therefore calling on all the housemates to STOP BASHING RICA for she has done nobody any harm. STOP DISREPECTING RICA for she has only treated all of them with grace and care. STOP DISPARAGING RICA for she is simply being herself. The asinine machismo being directed at her is the same kind of misogyny that leads to violence against women. The narrow-mindedness being displayed by some of the PBB Double Up housemates is the same kind of bias that leads to abuse, insensitivity and cruelty towards others. This is totally unacceptable behavior and must be stopped at all costs.

This has to stop if we believe in the equality of all persons. This has to stop if we want to create a world where the uniqueness of all is valued. This has to stop if we want to create a better world where kindness, compassion and respect reign, a world that upholds the inherent dignity of all. STOP TRANSPHOBIA SA BAHAY NI KUYA!

- Reposted from Sass Sasot

Despite the foregoing, however, this Petition is dismissible on moral grounds. Petitioner defines the Filipino Lesbian, Gay, Biseual and Transgender (LGBT) community, thus:

“xxx a marginalized and under-represented sector that is particularly disadvantaged because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.”

and proceeded to define sexual orientation as that which:

“xxx refer to a person’s capacity for profound emotional, affectional and sexual attraction to, and intimate and sexual relations with, individuals of a different gender, of the same gender or more than one gender.”.

This definition of the LGBT sector makes it crystal clear that petitioner tolerates immorality which offends religious beliefs.

And they used passages from the bible and Koran…

Now where is the separation of the church and the state??

I am furious on how COMELEC argued its way to reject Ang Ladlad from running as a party-list in Congress. COMELEC should’ve used the arguments using the Philippine Constitution. Our constitution is not the bible. Isn’t this an insult to our constitution? These COMELEC Commissioners, Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucienito Tagle, and Elias Yousoph exercised blatant bigotry and homophobic behaviour.

If you’re reading this and judging what my religious beliefs are, I’m sorry but this issue does not have anything to do with my religious beliefs. I would understand if they used logical arguments based on the constitution but using statements from the bible and koran?? Oh come on. The last time I checked, we are living in the 21st century not Medieval times. I remember during a debate class back in high school to never use religion in arguing, especially in debate, because there will never be a resolution of point of views.

I am waiting for the time when these Medieval thinkers in public service will retire and be replaced by progressive thinkers.

We, the LGBTs, need representation in Congress because we cannot expect other party-lists will help us. We appreciate the help of other party-lists such as Akbayan and Gabriela but they also have other agendas to do. If we have our own, it clearly represents the needs purely of the Filipino LGBTs.

You can view the Resolution of COMELEC released last November 11th here.

Here are some blogposts/articles written about this matter:

Rainbow Rights
Jonas Bagas
Risa Hontiveros

Anyway, I’ll leave you with a satirical note here posted by one of our sisters from STRAP, Sass Sasot:

My dear Commission on Elections (COMELEC) of the Philippines,

I wish to congratulate you for doing such an act of pure love and piousness when you upheld God’s Law in your decision regarding the petition of Ang Ladlad LGBT Political Party. Invoking Romans 1:26-27 was a brilliant idea! I feel so blessed that you guys are doing the job that the Constitution of the Philippines mandated you to do. And I feel so relieved that you guys are there to save my soul from being infected by the presence of a lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transgender political party in the 2010 elections.

I try to share the wisdom of your decision with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I’m really convinced that you are very right. You know, just like you, I take the Bible seriously in a very literal way because the Bible is the word of God and God is definitely very clear in whatever He’s saying. However, I do need some advice from you regarding some God’s command in the Bible. I will deeply appreciate if you tell me how to best follow them:

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exo. 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? How much did you sell your daughters for? I’m really, really curious.

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. Do you allow your female staff in COMELEC to work during their menstrual period?

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this doesn’t apply to us, that only Chinese people can have us as slaves and not the other way around. Can you clarify? Why can’t I have a Chinese for a slave?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exo. 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? Oh, am I allowed to kill President Arroyo when she works during the Sabbath? And, YES, am I allowed to kill you if I caught you working during the Sabbath?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? I know a lot of our political candidates eat selfish! O No! Please the 2010 Elections can’t be infested by them!

g) Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. A lot of political candidates are wearing glasses, a lot of our former Presidents wore glasses. Are they immoral too?

h) Most of our male political candidates get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. Can we tolerate such immorality among our political candidates?

i) I know a political candidate who has a farm. I think he violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev.24:10-16) Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14)

j) A lot of Filipinas work as domestic helpers in other countries. A lot of them are beaten by their employers. Should I condemn their employers or should we just allow them to be beaten up as long as they can get up after a day or two as what Exo. 21:20-21 wants us to do: “If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property.”

k) Erap Estrada seems intent to run again as President. I just wonder whether you’ll approve his candidacy, specially that he is a well-known adulterer. The Bible say the punishment is death, why is he still alive? Is there something fishy going on?

l) Deut. 23:20 said that we shall not demand interest from our countrymen on a loan of money. Are our banks immoral? How should they be punished?

I know you guys have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. I still have many questions but that’s all for now. Thank you again for reminding us that God’s word is eternal and unchanging.

Faithfully yours,
Juan de la Cruz

The sympo-forum will be held at the Videotheque, 2nd floor Ishmael Bernal Gallery, UP Diliman on June 20, 2009.

I will be expecting to learn a lot from Mr. Manalastas. It was unfortunate that I wasn’t able to be his student back in college but I believe that I was able to ’sit-in’ during one of his classes.

Atty. Guia gave a brief background on the political set up in the Philippines and the history of the party list representation in Congress. The party list system in the Philippines was made possible through the Republic Act 7941 or the Party List System Act.

According to the law, these are the groups or organizations that can be qualified as a party list:

* National political party (Should prove that group is visible in 8-9 regions of the Philippines; can also be regional political party, presence should be in majority of the cities)
* Sectoral political party (labor, peasant, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, elderly, handicapped, women, youth, veterans, ofw, professionals)
* Sectoral Organizations (groups which has similar physical attributes, interests, employments or concerns)

Currently, we are adapting the proportional representation kind of legislature. This means that the number of party list representatives will be proportioned on the number of district representatives elected. By law, 20% of the 260 seats in Philippine Congress are reserved for party list representatives however the pre-requisite of such is that the party list should get more than 2% votes of the total voting population. If it’s lower than 2%, this loses the chance of a party list to be included in Congress. Each party list is entitled to a maximum of 3 seats.

To illustrate, here is the formula:

(.80 ) (.20)
————- = no. of seats for party list representatives
.80

How will the winners be determined?
The party list will be ranked from highest to lowest. The order of names placed in the Certificate of Candidacy will determine who will have the first slot. Those party lists who garnered kmore than 2% of the votes of the total voting population will have the opportunity to have additional slots in proportion to their total number of votes.

BUT, it seems that this is IDEAL since there are some party lists who were able to get seats in Congress but were below 2% of the total voting population; this is just to FILL UP the vacant seats. It was decided by the Supreme Court then. As mentioned by Atty. Guia, having a party list doesn’t mean that the seats are already reserved for the marginalized groups but only an OPPORTUNITY. They would still have to undergo the democratic electoral system and play the game with traditional politics.

The Republic Act 9525 was signed into law by President Gloria Arroyo last March 22,2009 and this means that a budget of 11.3 Billion was already release. This allows COMELEC (Commission of Elections) to automate the upcoming 2010 elections. Atty. Guia gave us a bit of background on how the automated polls will work. He mentioned that there will be 80,000 machines that will be used all over the country and there will be one per precinct. If we will be visualizing it, a precinct wouldn’t mean just the classroom itself. A precinct is composed of 200 voters (of a specific geographical area) so the classroom, if we will be imagining it, is composed of 3-5 precincts (a total of 600-1000 voters). Going back to the machines, there will be one machine per classroom that will be used by 600-1000 voters. There will be pre-printed ballots; the voters would have to shade the box of their chosen candidates. Filled ballots will then be inserted to the scanner after voting hours (they said that voting will be extended until 6 pm so due to the limitation of the scanner); that is the time that the votes will be canvassed. The scanner can print 30 copies of election returns and electronically transmit them to the higher canvassing boards. During canvassing, there will be one IT personnel to take care of the issues of technical difficulties.

Now what’s wrong with this one? Hmm obviously, even though there is already the technology of counting ballots, it’s not real time! There will still be room to cheat since the filled ballots will just remain in the hands of the teachers. There could still be ballot switching, etc… I also hope that they have prepared a back up plan in case the scanners get f*cked up during canvassing of votes.

The quesion of software hacking also was raised because everything right now can be hacked. Atty. Guia said that it will be very hard to hack the system easily during canvassing of votes because people who have intentions to cheat in the elections would do the “more violent” way like abduction or much less “harmful”, bribery. That’s correct but I do hope that the IT people who are involved with maintaining the software for this one would be confined in one place without external communication. The master IT person might be abducted and bribed one day then our elections are all screwed up. It’s not really paranoia but I think that’s how we can safeguard this automation of polls.

Having said all that, where is the LGBT sector in the party list race?

Well, the LGBT doesn’t have any representatives in Congress yet. It was in 1998 when Akbayan consulted the LGBT community on the LGBT Agenda so I think there is an indirect representation already in Congress. Akbayan is the only party list who is pushing for the Anti-Discrimination Bill or House Bill 956. You may download the bill by clicking this link.

In 2006, Ang Ladlad (headed by Ateneo English Professor Danton Remoto) attempted to win an LGBT seat for the 2007 elections but the group was rejected and Remoto was considered a ‘nuissance candidate’. Ang Ladlad filed the group as a National Party and COMELEC rejected them on the ground of lacks national membership. Prof. Remoto sent a letter of appeal to COMELEC as well as his organization for a motion for reconsideration. COMELEC was still cold-hearted and still denied Ang Ladlad.

It is disheartening to know that the COMELEC still doesn’t understand the urgency of LGBTs to be represented in Congress. I think these oldies (or should I say tander cats or mashonders in gay lingo) are still stuck in the traditional way of thinking.

Now how can we go about it? COMELEC’s reason of ‘lack of national membership’ means that Ang Ladlad should have provincial chapters to be considered as a national party. There are lots of LGBT organizations in the whole Philippines but not every group is connected with Ang Ladlad. It is obvious that there are lots of LGBTs in the Philippines (out or closeted) but the question is does every LGBT want to be associated with Ang Ladlad? Probably, Ang Ladlad should file the group as a sectoral organization so that the pre-requisites are much easier. For as long as there is a capability to run a national campaign, that is not a problem. It seems easy but it would take lots of humanpower to achieve this.

I believe that we as LGBTs should be represented in Congress because there is really an urgency. I appreciate (and very thankful) Akbayan for helping us out with the LGBT agenda but with the addition of another group that would primarily deal with LGBT issues in Congress would be helpful in passing bills or laws. If an LGBT party list will have a seat in Congress, there would be an additional vote for the LGBT agenda (together with Akbayan), correct?

I hope that Ang Ladlad will be able to qualify as a party list for the upcoming 2010 elections. So far, that’s the only group I know that is pushing to become one of the party lists in Congress. Well if there is another one, the better! If the PBA players were qualified to be one of the party lists candidates, why can’t LGBTs? For the LGBTs to achieve a seat in Congress, I believe that we need to be unified.