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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
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MANILA – Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday called the shoddy efforts of the Duterte administration in protecting LGBT rights “troubling.”
Hontiveros lamented the country’s abstention during a recent vote on the resolution on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the United Nations Human Rights Council.
“Citing our lack of policy against discrimination, the Duterte government has chosen to renege on our human rights obligations. We let hate win,” the senator said during her International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia speech at the Australian Embassy.
She also said that women in the government have been the subject of rape jokes and online sexual harassment.
According to her, a study indicated that the Philippines has the highest cases of transgender killings in Southeast Asia between 2008 and 2014, with 29.
The country has also reported 28 LGBT-related killings in the first half of 2011 alone, the United Nations Development Programme said.
“These numbers are extremely alarming. They represent a deadly and irrational prejudice against those who do not conform to the traditional notion of sexual identity and orientation and deep-seated hate that we refuse to acknowledge and address,” the senator from Capiz said.
“For a country seen by many as liberal and tolerant of different views, the Philippines still has a long way to go in protecting the rights and lives of the LGBT community.”
To end discriminatory treatment of the LGBT community, Hontiveros filed the Anti-Discrimination Bill that aims to create social protection and diversity programs for them.
Her measure, now under interpellation in the Senate plenary, will ensure that discrimination, stigma and hate would not hinder anyone from access to education, healthcare, employment, and other fundamental rights, she added.
“My proposed measure will also compel the Philippine government to fully comply with its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights. It will give life to and uphold the equal protection clause enshrined in our 1987 Constitution,” Hontiveros said./PN
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