CEBU City may be the first city in the country to have a policy against the discrimination of minority sectors of the society with the proposed Anti-Discrimination Ordinance.
City Councilor Alvin Dizon said they are currently holding consultations with different sectors on the proposed Anti-Discrimination Ordinance.
The proposed ordinance he said not only cover lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) but also covers senior citizens, Muslims and the differently abled.
Dizon made the pitch for the proposed Anti-discrimination Ordinance in his speech during the Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights March last Saturday at the Asian College of Technology gym.
The Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights March is a simultaneous event in 32 cities all over the world. In the Philppines, it was also celebrated in Quezon, Bacolod and Isabela.
The councilor said they hope to have the proposed ordinance passed by the local legislature before the celebration of the International Human Rights Day on December 10 this year.
Co-sponsors of the proposed ordinance are Councilors Margot Osmena, Jun Pe, Nida Cabrera, Lea Japson and John Philip Bo.
“This is the first ordinance to have six proponents,” Dizon said.
They target to finish consultations and proceed with the final hearing of the ordinance in the last week of June or by the first week of July this year.
“It will be appropriate that we celebrate this year’s International Human Rights Day with an anti-discrimination ordinance. We could be the first local government unit in the entire country to adopt such measure,” Dizon said.
“The LGBT rights serves as our platform to voice out, to assert for our equal rights to equal protection of the law. “ said Coalition for the Liberation of the Reassigned Sex (Colors) President Magdalena Robinsons.
“I know that Cebu can make a difference, can set example, and can lead the way for other places in having a culture of respect, social justice and equality.“ Robinson said.
Colors is a transgender organization in Cebu that aims to establish a united, strong, and empowered transgender community that nurtures their well-being and welfare and rebuild a discrimination-free and equal society. /Jose Santino Bunachita and Caryl Baylon