by Michael Joe Delizo

MANILA – Last year’s supposed discrimination against comedienne-impersonator Kaladkaren Davila, whose real name is Jervi Li, was not enough for the swift passage of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill.

After 17 years, this anti-discrimination bill finally overcame resistance in the lower house and reached the Senate plenary in 2016. But since then, the bill languishes in the period of interpellation, making it the longest-running bill under interpellation in the Senate.

Now on its 19th year, the bill is at risk of going back to square one and undergo the same process all over again.

After the midterm elections on May 13, the 17th Congress has only 9 sessions left to pass the law.

“Kasi kapag hindi natapos ang process ngayong 17th Congress, i a-archive itong bill. So ’pag bukas ng 18th Congress, ire-refile ito, magsisimula na naman sa simula ng Committee hearing,” Senator Risa Hontiveros, author of the SOGIE Equality bill, told ABS-CBN News.

(Because if this is not finished this 17th Congress, the bill will be archived. So when the 18th Congress opens, this has to be refiled, it has to go back to the start in committee hearings.)

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Manny Pacquiao and Joel Villanueva, both devout Christians, are among those opposed to the SOGIE Equality bill. Read more via ABS-CBN News