Roman nanggalaiti kay Rep. Villanueva sa pagtutol sa SOGIE bill

Roman nanggalaiti kay Rep. Villanueva sa pagtutol sa SOGIE bill

February 11, 2023 @ 1:26 PM 2 months ago


MANILA, Philippines – “He is not God.”

Ito ang binitiwang salita ni Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman para kay Cibac Party Rep. Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva matapos ang tensyon na naganap sa House committee hearing para sa hakbang na naglalayong pagtibayin ang batas laban sa diskriminasyon batay sa sexual orientation, gender identity, at expression (Sogie) ng isang tao.

“Bigla nalang siyang mag-ba-barge in tapos sasabihin niya, kailangan i-defer niyo ito. Well, hindi naman siya ang Diyos,” sinabi ni Roman.

Kung babalikan, si Villanueva — na siyang founder ng Jesus is Lord church — ay sumabat sa diskusyon ng panel sa walong Sogie Equality bills na inihain sa Kamara.

Giit ni Villanueva sa naturang mga hakbang, illegal ito at “clear form of forum shopping.”

“He’s not in a position to declare our meeting legal or illegal,” ani Roman.

“As far as I’m concerned, as the chairperson of the committee on women and gender equality, I already had the clearance to hold that meeting and to tackle the Sogie Equality bill. He was barking at the wrong tree,” pagpapatuloy niya.

Kung may reklamo rin aniya si Villanueva sa deferment ng proposed measure o akusasyon ng forum shopping, sinabi ni Roman na maaari niya itong iangat sa House committee on rules dahil nakakuha na siya ng go-ahead at schedule para sa naturang pagdinig.

Ipinunto rin ni Roman na tinanggap niya si Villanueva na maging bahagi ng komite para marinig ang kanyang ideya at suhestyon.

“Although I know they are not really women’s rights nor gender equality advocates, I accepted them in the spirit of democracy. Just so they won’t say we are trying to railroad specific legislative measures, because this is how we work in Congress. We listen to both sides. And we try to come up with a win-win situation wherein their ideas, their suggestions are included and reflected in the outcome of our deliberations, whenever possible,” paliwanag ni Roman.

Nilinaw rin ng mambabatas ang kaibahan ng Sogie Equality bill at Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination bill, na ayon sa paniniwala niya ay “go hand in hand.”

Aniya, ang mga nagsusulong na ibasura ang Sogie Equality bill ay ang mga kaparehong tao rin na nagtutulak na alisin ang sexual orientation, gender identity at expression sa “protected attributes” ng Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination bill.

“That’s a contradiction. That’s quite ironic […] That’s selectively eliminating sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and an entire collective of people with diverse Sogie. What is this anti-discrimination bill – comprehensive or selective?” sinabi pa ni Roman. RNT/JGC