I just came from a police officers training course at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Region XI. I am usually asked to talk about gender issues and the enforcement of laws on women and children. And I felt like a hypocrite talking about how it is duty of the police to  enforce these laws or face administrative sanctions as provided in the law when the leadership of the PNP, both local and national, is  being perceived to be violating such laws.

I could not help myself. I needed to ask the participants of the training: “How is your morale these days?”  I could practically hear their collective sigh. “Low morale talaga kami ngayon, ma’am” (our morale now is so low, ma’am) was the consensus of the class of around 50 police officers from all over Davao region.

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The violent murder of transgender woman, Jennifer Laude, allegedly by a US Marine over the weekend in Olongapo City has outraged the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and confused the local law enforcers and the media covering the news on what to call the murder victim. Worse, some of them believe it is Laude’s fault she was murdered; that she has somehow brought it upon herself for “pretending to be a woman.”

Yes, I am calling her Jennifer and using the pronoun she. Because she identified as a transgender woman in life and that was her chosen name. She was not “pretending” to be a woman; that was her gender identity. And if we must talk about her in death, let us talk about her with respect. Not just the respect usually accorded to the dead, but respect for her gender identity.

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So the historic Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is expected to reach Congress anytime now and it needs the serious attention, review and deliberation of our legislators. In fact, they are considering forming an ad hoc committee to focus on this headed by Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez. House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. even said that they must “work double time to underscore the importance of this legislation and ensure the success of the peace process.”

I don’t know if Rep. Rodriguez’ recent withdrawal of support from the bill he authored, House Bill 4807, otherwise known as “An Act to Provide Protection From Personal Intrusion for Commercial Purposes,” has anything to do with his desire to demonstrate his seriousness in the task of tackling the BBL or is it simply because he faced significant opposition from the media and the general public on his “Anti-Selfie” bill. If I were his public relations person, I would spin it that way. That as a Mindanawon, passing the BBL has a far better impact on his constituents than legislating an anti-selfie bill in the “Selfie Capital of the World.”

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