Senators on Tuesday, November 21 rebuked the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) after Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva confronted the commission over one of their official’s remarks seeking a petition supposedly addressed to him appealing for the passage of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) bill.
This, after Villanueva showed a video clip of Krissi Shaffina Twyla Rubin, a lawyer and officer-in-charge of the CHR’s Center for Gender Equality and Women’s Human Rights during a Pride Month celebration in Quezon City last June, at the continuation of the Senate plenary debates on the 2024 national budget.
In the video, Rubin mentioned they have a “love letter” addressed to Villanueva and the rest of the senators urging them to hear their call for the immediate passage of the SOGIE bill.
When Villanueva repeatedly asked Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, who defended the CHR’s proposed budget for 2024 if this was the official stand of the CHR and if Rubin was authorized to make such remarks in behalf of the commission, pointing out that they were also circulating a signature campaign against him.
“This is hard Mr. President, I thought, and as far as I know that the CHR represents every Filipino individual, they represent the rights of every Filipino, not just one sector only,” Villanueva said in Filipino.
“Each Filipino, whether or not you are a senator, female or male, is supposed to be represented by the CHR,” he added.
Answering in behalf of the CHR, Estrada said the petition was still in the Commission and they have no intention of sending it to the senator.
The CHR, Estrada also said, considers Rubin’s statement at the event as the official stand of the Commission. This prompted the Senate to suspend its rules to allow CHR chairperson Richard Palpal-latoc to speak instead of the budget sponsor.
But when Villanueva asked the CHR chief if he was aware of the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill that he has been pushing for in the last two Congresses, Palpal-Latoc admitted he hasn’t read it yet.
This irked the majority leader: “Aren’t you violating the rights of this representation? Can you not first hear my advocacy and the bill I am pushing here in the Senate before you decide to file a petition, before coming to the stage and destroying me personally?”
The CHR chief then explained that they agreed to participate in the celebration but the petition was later “found out by the Commission.” He also said it was only Rubin and the focal commissioner who were the ones aware of the petition.
Estrada and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano immediately came to Villanueva’s defense. “This happened in June, right? Five months, and you didn’t even attempted to talk to Sen. Villanueva?” Estrada asked.
“Kung wala pang (Had we not had a) budget hearing, wala kayong balak kausapin si (you have no plan to talk to) Sen. Villanueva,” the senator further observed.
Cayetano also asked the CHR to clarify: “If you are against the SOGIE bill, are you considered anti-LGBT?” To which Palpal-latoc replied “No.”
“So have you read the statements against him?” Cayetano further asked noting that Villanueva has been tagged a “bigot” and “anti-LGBT” which was fueled by the remarks made by Rubin at the event.
The point the majority leader is driving at, Cayetano said, is that the CHR has become partisan when they scored him in public and only because he has concerns on the SOGIE bill.
“In social media, in media, in the public, in the rallies, they portray him as anti-LGBT, that’s very unfair,” he pointed out.
After this, Palpal-Latoc then apologized to Villanueva saying they regret how the Senate felt about the petition.
"The CHR commits in improving its processes as our mantra says 'Kami ang CHR ng lahat, naglilingkod maging sino ka man. And we are fully committed to work with the entire Senate in refining the SOGIE Equality bill and as we equally support the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Bill,” the CHR chairman stressed.
Palpal-Latoc then clarified that Rubin’s statement is not the CHR’s official statement but that the Commission's stand is to advocate for the passage of the SOGIE bill.
“But with regard to the actions made during that activity, no, your honor,” he stressed.