MANILA, Philippines— “If you are a man, you will never be a woman no matter what you do.”
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III did not mince words when he made this remark on Wednesday about the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill.
“Because you cannot reproduce, you cannot give birth, you do not have ovaries. You will never be a woman,” he went on.
Incidentally, the bill was being deliberated by the Senate committee on women while the Senate leader was being interviewed.
He said the bill might be approved in the committee but its chance of passing in the plenary was “very doubtful.”
READ: Sotto: ‘No chance’ of passing SOGIE bill in Senate
“Maraming kontra as it is e. The way it’s written now, maraming kontra,” he said.
Many of his colleagues, he said, are more supportive of the anti-discrimination bill being pushed by Senator Sonny Angara.
Unlike the SOGIE bill, Angara’s measure will penalize all kinds of discrimination, and not only based on gender.
Asked if the SOGIE bill is class legislation, Sotto answered, “Yes, definitely. It is class legislation.”
“To me, this SOGIE bill is a bill against women’s rights. It is giving transgender rights so it is a class legislation,” he said. /muf