By Aura Sison

Led by Secretary Justice Jesus Crispin “Boying” Remulla, the Philippine delegation to the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was introduced with 297 proposals from UNHRC members, 97 of which were rejected by the said delegation. 

The rejected proposals include calls to pass additional laws aiming to protect the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, legalize same-sex unions, and permit divorce within the country since they are “culturally unacceptable” because the country is a “predominantly Catholic nation”, according to Secretary Boying Remulla. 

“They want the SOGIE Bill for same-sex marriage to have the same as in their countries. So, that’s not acceptable for us. They really want a lot to be implemented here,” Remulla said in Filipino, via his radio program on Saturday, November 19. 

On the other hand, the Philippine delegation accepted 200 proposals, including the preservation of the death penalty moratorium and the prevention of extrajudicial murders. 

Currently, local laws are presently directed at protecting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community; however, activists raise that the continued opposition of religious groups persists to affect the progress made at the local level.

While for divorce, the justice secretary acknowledged that compared to the previous Congress, when former Senate President Vicente Sotto III was “adamantly opposed” to it, “there may be a glimmer of hope” for legalizing divorce now. 

However, he said it still requires careful consideration, despite its demand for legalization by the general public. 

Thumbnail from UNTV