By Junex Doronio

MANILA – House Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo vowed to support the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression and Sex Characteristics (SOGIESC) Equality bill in Congress to protect the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in the country.

During his interpelation on Wednesday (11 September 2024) on the proposed bill authored by Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman, Tulfo expressed his satisfaction to the said bill.

“Now, I would just like to point out before I close, being a Catholic, a Roman Catholic, a former seminarian, the Catholic Church, though considered a conservative religion through Pope Francis now supports civil legislation that gives same-sex couples rights in areas such as pensions, health insurance, and inheritance,” Tulfo said.

“The Roman Catholic Church now accepts same-sex attraction, and it says that it is not sinful. And it welcomes everybody in the house of God, including the LGBT community. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I support the passage of this bill,” the lawmaker added.

For her part, Rep. Roman recognized Rep. Tulfo and his brother, Sen. Raffy Tulfo, for their “gender sensetive” radio programs and always supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.

“Nais ko rin pasalamatan sana ang ating nagtatanong ngayong hapon si Rep. Tulfo sapagkat sa kanyang programa sa radio at kahit na rin po ang kay Sen. (Raffy) Tulfo na programa, ay napaka-gender sensitive nila,” Roman said.

“Natutuwa po ako na mga taong lumalapit sa kanila na bahagi ng LGBTQIA community ay tinatrato na may paggalang, tinatanong muna ano ba ang iyong pronoun of choice at wala po silang nararanas ng discrimination,” the solon added.

Roman also said, that media should emulate the Tulfo brothers for supporting the SOGIESC Equality Bill.

“Sana ganito lang po, sa pamamagitan ng mga magagandang halimbawa sa media po, mainstream media. At dumadami naman po, syempre, sa social media ang sumusuporta sa panukalang batas na ito ay mapapalaganap natin at mapaparating sa bawat sulok ng ating bansa ang kahalagahan ng pagkakaroon ng isang batas na magpoprotekta laban sa diskriminasyong nakabase sa SOGIESC and sexual orientation and gender identity and expression,” Roman averred.

During his interpelation, Tulfo wants to make sure that the bill by prohibiting discrimination can really help the economy and can also attract foreign investment in the country.

Tulfo, being a media practitioner, also suggested an effective information dissemination campaign to inform the public about the said anti-discrimination bill.

ia/mnm