HOTSPOT

I was planning to react extensively to Pura Luka Vega’s latest arrest this week, but I remembered that a prosecutor has dismissed one of the many cases filed against the drag artist over the “Ama Namin” performance.

In a resolution dated Nov. 13, Tacloban City Prosecutor Ma. Liza Miscala-Jorda dismissed a complaint filed by a pastor against the drag artist regarding the exact same issue.
Journalists reported that the resolution ruled “the intent on the part of the person is taken into consideration, and taken as whole, the performance in question has serious literary, artistic or scientific value,” and that the complaint “failed to prove that the material is obscene.”

“For reasons stated and for lack of probable cause, this case is recommended dismissed,” part of the resolution read.

We could only wish that the prosecutors and judges in other places, such as the ones in Manila that ordered the most recent arrest, would refer and defer to the Tacloban prosecutor’s resolution.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), a University of the Philippines law professor wrote: “There ought to be an anti-SLAPP statute or rule to punish those who abuse the legal system by filing harassment suits over constitutionally-protected expression.”

SLAPPs refer to “strategic lawsuits against public participation” that aim to intimidate citizens engaged in a particular cause through the filing of cases.

The seven complaints filed against Pura Luka Vega over the “Ama Namin” performance are arguably an abuse of the legal system, with the common end goal of punishing the drag artist for exercising the constitutional right to free expression.

There could be two beautiful outcomes from these harassment cases against Pura Luka Vega. Of course, one is like the Tacloban resolution dismissing the case there.
But the other, more beautiful result could be that the Pura Luka Vega cases become a basis for the Supreme Court to finally strike Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code for being unconstitutional. Like criminal libel, Article 201 is a relic of Spanish-era church-state rule. It was a means for the church to coerce its beliefs.

However fervent their faith may be, the complainants against Pura Luka Vega cannot claim to represent all Christians.

More and more Christian traditions have renounced their long history of violence, discrimination, and exclusion, and have gone on to apologize to and reach out to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queers and others.

Sr. Mary John Mananzan OSB, a prominent Catholic academic and theologian, said it simply in remarks in support of the anti-discrimination bill at the Senate in 2019: “I believe in the respect, compassion and reverence for all persons because we are all made in the image and likeness of God.”

In a 2018 statement titled “Let Grace Be Total,” the United Church of Christ in the Philippines said: “This tradition is rooted primarily and solely on a theology of grace, not a theology of law or pure legalism. Within this faith tradition, we consider the grace of God as an unconditional gift of God. All people, regardless of race, gender, nationality, political affiliation or even religious conviction are seen as one in Christ and are all objects of God's redeeming, healing and reconciling love.”

“God does not impose conditions to being accepted, or being healed. Jesus even gave especial attention to people who are considered as outcasts like the lepers, the sinners, such as the tax collectors like Zachaeus, the widows, the poor, the immoral, the rejected, the ostracized and the marginalized, those who are objects of ridicule, contempt and outright judgment and condemnation by the rest of the society,” the UCCP statement said.

Declaring itself as a welcoming and inclusive church, the Iglesia Filipina Independiente said in a 2017 statement: “We humbly ask for forgiveness for the many times we have shown indifference, and have made the LGBTIQ+ people feel less human, discriminated against and stigmatized. We apologize for instances they felt that, through our thoughts, words and deeds, God’s love is selective.”

In my view, not only are the complainants flexing their legal and political power as pastors or as dominant faith-based organizations in their use of an antiquated law to punish Pura Luka Vega. The feeling of LGBTs and their allies is that the very dignity and rights of Pura Luka Vega are being questioned and attacked.