Was Vega's 'drag performance' a crime? Guanzon gives her view
Rowena Guanzon (Twitter)
It seems that P3PWD Party-list nominee Rowena Guanzon agrees with the sentiment that Pura Luka Vega did something offensive when he dressed up as Jesus Christ and sang a rock version of Catholic song "Ama Namin (Our Father)". However, Guanzon, a lawyer, is leaving it up to netizens to decide whether or not Vega committed a crime in the latter's viral video. "Did he offend religious feelings ? Yes. But did he commit a crime? Read below," Guanzon tweeted Friday, July 14. The former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner shared a screenshot of the penalty for "offending religious feelings" as per the Revised Penal Code. The shared text read: "The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correctional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon anyone who, in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony shall perform acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful." Commenters to this tweet were quick to point out that Vega wasn't in a "place devoted to religious worship" when he did his controversial, "for the sake of art", drag performance. While Guanzon didn't mention Vega by name, she was obviously referring to him based on her other tweets that day. "Years ago there were candidates dressed up as Lucifer and Jesus who filed candidacies for senators. COMELEC [accepted] their applications but declared [them as] nuisance. Freedom of speech," she wrote. "Ang hirap talaga maging bayot dito sa Pilipinas (It's really hard to be gay here in the Philippines)," she also tweeted.