Marcos creates LGBTQIA+ Special Committee

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has issued an Executive Order (EO) that reconstitutes the Inter-Agency Committee on Diversity and Inclusion and creates a Special Committee on Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Affairs. 

EO 51 was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on December 22, according to a statement released by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Saturday.

The PCO said President Marcos saw the need to reinforce the DIP and reconstitute its Inter-Agency Committee “to ensure the country’s continuous compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” 

Marcos also stated that the creation of the Special Committee on LGBTQIA+ aims to strengthen existing mechanisms to address the continued discrimination against the community and provide them an avenue to participate in policy formulation of the government. 

“The Inter-Agency Committee on Diversity and Inclusion is hereby reconstituted as the Diversity and Inclusion Committee,” President Marcos said, adding the Committee will be led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). 

The Secretaries of the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will co-chair the Committee while Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary will serve as Vice Chair.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary will serve as a member along with the Secretaries of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health (DOH), and the chairpersons of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Special Committee on LGBTQIA+ Affairs. 

A copy of the EO is published in the Official Gazette where functions of the special committee are stated. —VAL, GMA Integrated News