Committee Report Recommending SOGIESC Equality Bill Gets 19 Senate Signatures

The Committee Report filed by the Senate women, children, family relations, and gender equality panel which recommends the passage of the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC Equality bill) rounded up the signatures of 19 senators out of 24.

Senator Risa Hontiveros took to Twitter to announce the filing and the attained signatures of the Committee Report.

“GOOD NEWS! Naihain ko na po ang Comm Rpt ng SOGIESC Equality Bill, kung saan 19 of us colleagues in the Sen have come together to support the moving forward of the bill! (Good News! I have filed the Committee Report of the SOGIESC Equality Bill, where in 19 of us colleagues in the Senate have come together to support the moving forward of the bill!),” Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros added in a statement that she is confident that the SOGIE bill will be passed this congress and emphasized that the country’s laws should reflect the reality on the ground.

“I am even more encouraged that in this Congress, the SOGIE bill will finally be passed,” Hontiveros said, adding “It’s 2022 already, our laws should reflect the reality of our culture.”

The following senators signed the Committee Report.

Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel
Senator Sonny Angara
Senator Imee R. Marcos
Senator Cynthia Villar
Senator Nancy Binay
Senator Bato dela Rosa
Senator Grace Poe
Senator Mark Villar
Senator Francis Tolentino
Senator JV Ejercito
Senator Robinhood Padilla
Senator Raffy Tulfo
Senator Jinggoy Estrada
Senator Lito Lapid
Senator Chiz Escudero
Senator Loren Legarda
Senator Bong Go
Senator Bong Revilla

Meanwhile, the 5 remaining senators, which include Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri and Majority Leader Joel Villanueva, signed with reservations or stated their desire to interpellate, according to Sen. Hontiveros.

The SOGIESC Equality bill seeks to prohibit discriminatory acts against persons based on their SOGIESC.

This includes “refusing admission to or expelling a person from any educational or training institution, imposing disciplinary sanctions harsher than customary that infringe on the rights of students, and refusing or revoking the accreditation of organizations, groups, political parties, or institutions, among others.”

Individuals who will be found violating the SOGIESC Equality bill will face penalties including a fine of not less than P100,000, but not more than P250,000 or imprisonment of not less than one year, but not more than six 6 years.

Those who will deny a person access to emergency and/or necessary health services on the basis of the person’s SOGIESC will also be penalized.

Moreover, those who refuse medical and health services based on SOGIESC can be penalized with a fine of not less than P100,000, but not more than P300,000, or imprisonment of not less than six months, but not more than two years and four months. (GFB)