91.
[TW: Rape, Hate Crime, Violence, Brutality]
90 may seem like an ordinary number, maybe it would mean that an angle is right, yet for the LGBTQ+ Community, something isn’t right.
As Metro Manila Pride’s official statement read, “The data does not lie: The Trans Murder Monitoring Report of Transgender Europe has recorded at least 58 transgender persons have been killed in the Philippines from 2008 to September 2020.” In just a span of 12 years, the brutality against Transgenders have increased in intensity, as the Philippine government continues to deny granting legislation that would protect the Trans Filipinos. It was all too clear when the long justice-seeking journey for transgender woman Jennifer Laude all went down in crumbles as Joseph Scott Pemberton, a United States Marine convicted of killing Laude last October 2014, was granted absolute pardon last September 7. Pemberton was granted an early release by the regional trial court through Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA), which was deeply challenged and questioned by many. As the investigation report stated, Pemberton’s discovery of Laude being “Gay” prompted the perpetrator to kill the victim.
Just a month ago, a non-binary trans person named Ebeng Mayor went missing. After three days, they were found dead, bloodied, and bruised, as it was believed that they were raped before being killed. In a separate incident, Jhie Bangkiao was also bludgeoned to death, as the transgender woman was found naked with a bloodied head in a cemetery. Both members of the transgender community were found brutally murdered just days after the celebration of the International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia. Following a wave of online outrage at the crimes, LGBTQ+ groups such as Bahaghari expressed its concern to the hate crimes that have been rampant in the country.
“We won’t allow killings to become normal. We won’t allow violence to become the norm,” asserted Bahaghari spokesperson Rey Valmores-Salinas on a Facebook post by the organization’s page. The spokesperson also added that it was time to fight this culture of abuse through passing the law that would protect all from discrimination, pertaining to the SOGIE Equality Bill. First filed in 2000 by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and Party-list Representative Etta Rosales, the SOGIE Equality Bill had failed to pass in the Senate, yet numerous attempts have been made to pass the bill, most recently reaching the Philippine Senate in 2017, yet it’s already 2021, and still no sign of the bill.
According to a survey conducted by Transman Equality and Awareness Movement Philippines in 2017, almost a third of LGBTQ+ college students in the Philippines had experienced sexual harassment, as it is evident that the LGBTQ+, especially the trans community, is vulnerable to sexual violence in the Philippines, “a country that condones rape culture and victim blaming”. Majority of Filipinos have been calling for the immediate passing of the SOGIE Equality Bill, but as of now, it is now a languishing law in the Senate.
12 years, 58 deaths, 11 years, 3 known victims, and no justice served after 7 years.
In just 12 years, there have been 58 deaths in the trans community, and it has been 11 years since the SOGIE Equality Bill was first filed. Three victims of brutality against the trans community made headlines, namely: Jennifer Laude, Ebeng Mayor, and Jhie Bangkiao. For Jennifer Laude, justice was still not served after 7 years, so how much more for those casualties that weren’t reported?
91, as something’s not right.
References:
Abad, M. (2020, September 14). TIMELINE: The killing of Jennifer Laude and release of Joseph Scott Pemberton. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/timeline-jennifer-laude-killing-joseph-scott-pemberton-release.
Busey, K. (2021, May 23). A Transgender man and woman were murdered in the Philippines. Planet Trans. https://planettransgender.com/a-transgender-man-and-woman-were-murdered-in-the-philippines/.
Wakefield, L. (2021, May 22). Trans man Ebeng Mayor mutilated, raped and murdered in disturbing hate crime. PinkNews. https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/05/22/ebeng-mayor-trans-man-philippines-mutilation-rape-murder-hate-crime/.
Yahoo! (n.d.). Days after two brutal murders, LGBTQ rights groups hold rally for the SOGIE Equality Bill. Yahoo! News. https://ph.news.yahoo.com/days-two-brutal-murders-lgbtq-112602311.html.
