(We yield this space to the statement of the Child Rights Network, the largest alliance of child-focused organizations and agencies in the Philippines, due to it timeliness. – Ed.)
THE PHILIPPINE delegation rejected the recommendation during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to pass the SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression) Equality Bill. The UPR is a mechanism instituted by the United Nations to review a member-state’s actions concerning the protection of human rights periodically.
A cursory review of the SOGIE Equality bills would reveal how comprehensive and protective the proposals are. At the heart of these is the constitutionally-protected right of all people – regardless of sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, ethnicity, and other attributes – to receive the State’s protection against discrimination and violence.
According to the 2016 Philippine National Baseline Study on Violence against Children, LGBTQI+ children face higher risks of suffering physical violence (75%), psychological violence (78.5%), and sexual violence (33.8%).
The SOGIE Equality Bill isn’t even about same-sex union. It’s about providing a law that will protect anyone, especially children, who endures discrimination and violence for just being who they are. It is ironic that we are celebrating National Children’s Month this November with the theme of strengthening children’s mental health and well-being, and yet our government rejects a proposal that seeks to address the reason why many LGBTQI+ children face mental health problems and risks of suicide – discrimination.
Several versions of the SOGIE Equality Bill pending before Congress offer holistic protection to children from discrimination. Some include a provision on the “responsibility to promote a non-discrimination and equal opportunity environment” for all persons and in all settings, particularly schools.
Another tasks the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to promote “understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity, racial harmony and non-discrimination in schools and other learning modalities, and ensure that books, reference materials and other learning resources used in education programs, including those that portray indigenous peoples or discuss religious practices, are free from discriminatory content.”
The SOGIE Equality Bill also tasks the whole of government and society, including educational institutions, to “develop and implement information dissemination on any of the prohibited forms of discrimination.”
How can anyone say that enriching our curriculum with gender sensitivity and lessons on respect for values is unacceptable? This notion breeds discrimination – stopping point-blank efforts to teach respect, honor, discernment, and critical thinking, especially among children.
The principles of non-discrimination and equal protection are enshrined, especially in Article III Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution.
The SOGIE Equality Bill is not only aimed at protecting the LGBTQI+ community against discrimination and violence. It is, in fact, an essential piece of legislation that can pave the way for greater public understanding on rights to equality and non-discrimination.
