Anti-'bastos' act authors urge Duterte to sign it into law
Published Feb 7, 2019 02:52 pm
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The principal authors of the Safe Spaces Bill in the House of Representatives are strongly urging President Duterte to sign the landmark measure that would create a culture of respect for women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin
(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Siquijor Rep. Rav Rocamora and Akbayan partylist Rep. Tom Villarin called on the Chief Executive to ink the measure after the ratification of the bicameral committee report on the proposed Act on Wednesday evening. “By punishing sexual harassment, we are creating a culture of respect for women and LGBT people. At the core of this bill is the recognition of everyone’s dignity and that no one should be subjected to unwanted overtures or get called demeaning names,” Rocamora said in a statement. “We want to replace this pervasive culture of machismo with a culture of respect and acceptance. Women, LGBT persons, and even men do not deserve to be the target of sexist, misogynist, homophobic or transphobic remarks or become the target of harassment,” he said. For his part, Villarin said, “Hopefully, the President should sign this Safe Spaces Bill. At sana matauhan sya because if this is enacted into law, he would become part of the measure, dapat respituhin nya.” “We should feel safe, bawal po ang bastos sa mga terminal, sa mga publikong sasakyan, malls, kalye, waiting shed at sa lahat ng publikong lugar. This is in addition to the existing Anti-Sexual Harassment Law,” he said. Rocamora agreed with Villarin, noting that old Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of 1995 was limited to penalizing sexual harassment committed inside the workplace and educational institutions and between superiors and subordinates. “This proposed legislation penalizes sexual harassment whether at work, at school, on the streets, inside the mall, and it also punishes sexual harassment committed online. Harassment between peers will also be punished, there is no need for a superior-subordinate relationship” he said. He noted that the Safe Spaces Bill is “comprehensive”, as it explicitly prohibits sexist, misogynist, homophobic and transphobic slurs and punishes catcalling and wolf whistling and other similar acts. The measure also punishes the following acts: groping and other forms of unwanted advances; sexual harassment committed online such as sending of unwanted comments online whether publicly or through direct and private messages; invasion of victim’s privacy through cyber stalking and incessant messaging; and uploading and sharing without the consent of the victim, any form of media that contains photos, voice, or video with sexual content. The proposed measure classifies sexual harassment into four main categories: street and public sexual harassment, online sexual harassment, workplace sexual harassment, and sexual harassment in educational and training institutions. Under the bill, enforcers from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) (for Metro Manila) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) (for other provinces) are deputized as Anti-Sexual Harassment Enforcers (ASHE) and can receive complaints and apprehend perpetrators of sexual harassment in public spaces. In the case of online sexual harassment, the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group shall implement the law.
Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin(Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) Siquijor Rep. Rav Rocamora and Akbayan partylist Rep. Tom Villarin called on the Chief Executive to ink the measure after the ratification of the bicameral committee report on the proposed Act on Wednesday evening. “By punishing sexual harassment, we are creating a culture of respect for women and LGBT people. At the core of this bill is the recognition of everyone’s dignity and that no one should be subjected to unwanted overtures or get called demeaning names,” Rocamora said in a statement. “We want to replace this pervasive culture of machismo with a culture of respect and acceptance. Women, LGBT persons, and even men do not deserve to be the target of sexist, misogynist, homophobic or transphobic remarks or become the target of harassment,” he said. For his part, Villarin said, “Hopefully, the President should sign this Safe Spaces Bill. At sana matauhan sya because if this is enacted into law, he would become part of the measure, dapat respituhin nya.” “We should feel safe, bawal po ang bastos sa mga terminal, sa mga publikong sasakyan, malls, kalye, waiting shed at sa lahat ng publikong lugar. This is in addition to the existing Anti-Sexual Harassment Law,” he said. Rocamora agreed with Villarin, noting that old Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of 1995 was limited to penalizing sexual harassment committed inside the workplace and educational institutions and between superiors and subordinates. “This proposed legislation penalizes sexual harassment whether at work, at school, on the streets, inside the mall, and it also punishes sexual harassment committed online. Harassment between peers will also be punished, there is no need for a superior-subordinate relationship” he said. He noted that the Safe Spaces Bill is “comprehensive”, as it explicitly prohibits sexist, misogynist, homophobic and transphobic slurs and punishes catcalling and wolf whistling and other similar acts. The measure also punishes the following acts: groping and other forms of unwanted advances; sexual harassment committed online such as sending of unwanted comments online whether publicly or through direct and private messages; invasion of victim’s privacy through cyber stalking and incessant messaging; and uploading and sharing without the consent of the victim, any form of media that contains photos, voice, or video with sexual content. The proposed measure classifies sexual harassment into four main categories: street and public sexual harassment, online sexual harassment, workplace sexual harassment, and sexual harassment in educational and training institutions. Under the bill, enforcers from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) (for Metro Manila) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) (for other provinces) are deputized as Anti-Sexual Harassment Enforcers (ASHE) and can receive complaints and apprehend perpetrators of sexual harassment in public spaces. In the case of online sexual harassment, the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group shall implement the law.