of terms and expressions, assistance to IP language training, and
integrated development project for more vulnerable IP groups.
73.
The Act Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and
Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) and Providing Penalties Therefor
(House Bill No. 4982), or the Anti-Discrimination Act and also more
popularly known as the SOGIE Bill, aims to address all forms of
discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientation or gender
identity and to promote human dignity as enshrined in the United Nations
Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, particularly General
Recommendation No. 28 on Nondiscrimination Based on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and all other relevant
and universally accepted human rights instruments and other international
conventions to which the Philippines is a signatory.153 This proposed law
seeks to protect individuals and communities that experience human rights
violations on the basis of SOGIE, including, but not limited to, individuals
and communities of diverse sexual orientation or gender identity or
expression who are children, young, poor, differently abled, of different
ethnic background or cultural background, and of various religious belief.154
In December 2020, it was reintroduced in the 18th Congress after it was
turned down in the previous sessions.155
Local Government Units (LGUs)
74.
In Quezon City, a locally managed technical vocational center in Quezon
City provides skills training for teachers, especially in K to 12. There are
also continuous skills and competency development programs for
teachers. In 2019, the Senior High School Graduate Skills Registration
Program was launched by the Quezon City Council, which involves
creating a database using information from a Skills Registration Form
made available online for Grade 12 students to answer. Once the program
commences, PESO will take over the database, so registered students will
be referred to companies and receive invitations to job fairs and skills
programs.156 During the pandemic, in 2020, Quarantalks QC was
launched, a series of online webinars to help parents transition their
children to distance learning.
75.
In Iloilo City, the Tiu Cho Teg-Ana Ros (TCTAR) Foundation Integrated
School in Barangay Lanit in Jaro district was converted into a farm school
that catered initially to 39 learners. Having met the standards of the DepEd
to offer the curriculum for agriculture, the school has a space that can be
utilized for small organic farming or gardening. Offline-online blended
153
An Act Prohibiting Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) and
Providing Penalties Therefor (House Bill No. 4982), S.B. No. 689, 18TH CONG., 1ST Reg. Sess. (2019).
154
Id. at § 4.
155
Jove Moya, SOGIE Equality Bill: Everything You Need to Know—Supporters, Beginnings, And More, TATLER ASIA, Jan.
13, 2022, available at https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/arts/pride-month-2021-sogie-equality-bill-timeline (last accessed
June 21, 2022).
156
Christel Castillo, QC Council pursues Senior High School Graduate Skills Registration Program, METRO NEWS
CENTRAL, 2019, available at http://metronewscentral.net/quezon-city/metro-gen/qc-council-pursues-senior-high-schoolgraduate-skills-registration-program (last accessed May 26, 2022).
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