'God bless you always': Tulfo thanks Roman for taking stand vs drag performance
ACT-CIS Party-list nominee Erwin Tulfo (left) and Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman (Facebook)
ACT-CIS Party-list nominee Erwin Tulfo has thanked transgender solon Bataan 1st district Rep. Geraldine Roman for taking a stand against the "offensive" drag performance of Pura Luka Vega. "Thank you Cong. Geraldine Roman. May God bless you always," Tulfo wrote in a Facebook post Friday, July 14. The post came with a quote card featuring Roman's apparent response to the controversial drag performance wherein Vega dressed up as Jesus Christ and sang a rock version of the Catholic song, "Ama Namin" (Our Father). Despite being a fellow part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, Roman made no defense of Vega and said, "Hindi po maaring gamitin ang Sogie Equality Bill upang i-justify o pawalang sala ang pilit na pagpapahubad ng ibang tao sa isang bar, ang violence, ang paglaban sa autoridad o ang isang walang-galang na drag performance na lumalapastangan sa mga bagay na sagrado." (The Sogie Equality Bill cannot be used to justify or to exonerate people from forcibly having other people strip down at a bar, from violence, from fighting authority, or from a disrespectful drag performance that desecrated sacred items.) "Paalala din po sa mga miyembro ng LGBT+ Community (Also a reminder to the members of the LGBT+ Community), always remember that each and everyone of us carries the rainbow flag so dapat let us always do good," she added. Tulfo is a broadcast journalist and a former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary. Roman is the first transgender solon in the history of Philippine Congress. She chairs the House Committee on Women and Gender Equality.