Thursday, September 8, 2011

HOUSE RESOLUTION 1432

HOUSE RESOLUTION 1432 DIRECTING THE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS TO CONDUCT AN INQUIRY, IN AID OF LEGISLATION, ON THE REPORTED KILLINGS AND HATE CRIMES AGAINST LESBIANS, GAYS, BISEXUALS AND TRANSGENDERS

By Rep. Teddy Casiño

Bayan Muna Party LIst

WHEREAS, on June 13, 2011, television director Ricky Rivero was stabbed in his apartment, suffering 17 stab wounds on his chest, arms and legs. The perpetrator was 22-year-old Hans Ivan Ruiz who was the victim’s friend and casual sexual partner. Police reports said it was a case of suspected robbery;

WHEREAS, the incident involving Rivero appears to be the latest in a series of recent violent crimes against homosexual and transgender persons. The Philippine LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Hate Crime Watch said that “The brutalities done to the murdered LGBT Filipinos are suggestive that they were victims of hate crimes.” According to news reports and independent complaints collated by the group, there have been 103 reported cases of LGBT killings since 1996;

WHEREAS, hate crimes, based on the definition of the United States Department of Justice, are “criminal offenses committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offenders bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnicity/national origin, or sexual-orientation.” Such crimes have long been happening in the country and is still going on despite Philippine society supposedly being more open to the LGBT community;

WHEREAS, according to Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch, majority of the victims of said crimes were gay men, followed by transgenders or those who appear and identify themselves with the opposite sex. Based on their provided data, from an average of 10 murders between 1996 and 2008, the killings rose to 12 gays slain in 2009, 26 murdered in 2010, and 27 killed in just the first six months of the current year;

WHEREAS, acknowledging the gravity and urgency of the problem, the United Nations Human Rights Council recently approved a resolution calling for an end to discrimination and violence against LGBT persons worldwide, ordering the High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect data on violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity by December 2011, and for the Council to discuss the research findings in an open debate;

WHEREAS, it is the duty of Congress to look into what may be an alarming trend of violence and hate against LGBTs in order to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice, the victims protected, and the legal framework improved to put an end to these gruesome and senseless deaths;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Committee on Human Rights conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the reported killings and hate crimes against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. ###

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