Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman AFP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The country’s first transgender lawmaker has called out Vice President Sara Duterte over her remark that a cop should not be “gay.”
In an ambush interview on Monday, Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman was asked about Duterte’s remark when her chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, was being transferred from the House of Representatives premises to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
Duterte was seen berating police officers securing Lopez’s transfer by shouting “‘wag kayong bakla (don’t be gay)” to them.
“Well, I saw it. Really, we should not equate being gay, or being trans, or being lesbian in being weak,” Roman said.
“I think it’s quite surprising and kind of disappointing [to hear these] remarks, knowing that the Vice President is a declared supporter of the LGBT community. I did not expect that kind of remark from her,” she added.
After visiting Lopez, who was cited for contempt by a House panel, the Vice President locked herself inside the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte, last November 22.
Due to the security problems that came with Vice President Duterte staying inside the Batasang Pambansa, the House committee on good government and public accountability decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women.
The Vice President then ranted against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. According to Duterte, she has contacted someone who would kill the three if she gets assassinated.
READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace
Earlier, Roman apologized to the public for her silence when the Vice President’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was still in office.
According to Roman, the Duterte administration seemed to send a message that there should be no opposition, hence a move from lawmakers to protect their districts.
“The point I was coming from was, I remember, in the 17th Congress. And I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to ask and seek, well, forgiveness and apologize to Senator Leila de Lima because at that time it seems that the past administration was sending like a message to the legislative that there should be no opposition, there should be no dissenting voice,” she said.
“And a sitting senator was imprisoned so unjustly for seven years. And for many of us here in the House of Representatives, mostly the women, we felt that we had to keep quiet, to protect our districts,” she added.
READ: Roman says sorry for silence vs past admin: I had to protect my district