Pro-gay bill not a rights issue - House HR chair

By FIDEL JIMENEZ, GMANews.TV Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante, a bishop of the Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church, vowed Thursday that he would continue to oppose a lesbian and gay rights bill despite criticisms hurled against him by its proponents. The lawmaker, chair of the House of Representatives human rights committee, said he would continue to block the passage of House Bill 637 or "Act Prohibiting Discrimination on Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Providing Penalties Thereof." "I don't believe that the bill is a human rights issue, it is more of a moral issue," Abante told GMANews.TV. The Manila solon said the bill might be used as an argument to allow same sex marriage in the Philippines, a predominantly Christian country. The group Lesbian and Gay-Legislative Advocacy Network (Lagablab) on Thursday continued to assail Abante over his alleged "homophobia and atrocious ignorance of the basic principle of human rights." "We will campaign against him in his own district. We don't take bigotry sitting down, especially those coming from public official who enjoy the privileges provided by the taxes that we pay," said Jonas Bagas, Lagablab secretary general. Despite his insistence to put an end to the measure, Abante said he is willing to talk and discuss the matter with Lagablab. He said, "I don't degrade in anyway a gay or a lesbian as a person but there is more to the bill than meets the eye." The bill was already approved at the committee level and was about to be sponsored earlier this week by its author Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales before the plenary when Abante raised procedural questions. He reportedly called Rosales' privilege speech as "very unethical" since he was not informed about the bill even though he chairs the House human rights panel that is supposed to scrutinize it. The House leadership then moved to suspend consideration of the bill, sparking the outrage of Lagabgab. Abante said members of the Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church is preparing for a big gathering on Saturday for the "renewal" of Filipino morals.-GMANews.TV