Cebu advocates highlight need for SOGIESC policy dev’t in rural communities

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

An LGBTQ advocate asks how other LGUs in towns and municipalities implement anti-discrimination policies as all three of Cebu’s highly urbanized cities have their own inclusive ordinances

CEBU, Philippines – Sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) advocates in Cebu said during a press conference on Wednesday, June 5, that there is still a gap between inclusive policy-making between the national government and local government units (LGUs).

According to Regi Manabilang, head of Volunteer Training Team of LoveYourself PH Cebu, while many LGUs have begun institutionalizing ordinances to help members of the LGBTQ community, the national government has made short progress in policy-making for this issue.

All of Cebu’s highly urbanized cities, namely Mandaue, Cebu, and Lapu-Lapu, have their own respective anti-discrimination ordinances, recognizing the rights of LGBTQ individuals. The SOGIESC Equality bill has yet to leave the Congress as a passed bill for over two decades.

“It’s great in the key cities because they are very strict in terms of implementing those policies. However, we don’t know in the municipalities and the provinces — how are people from the LGBTQ community being protected [there],” Manabilang told Rappler.

The advocate explained that a proportion of their operations at LoveYourself PH involved providing treatments and education on HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), which largely affects LGBTQ individuals.

The Department of Health (DOH) recently sounded the alarm after 6,703 HIV cases were recorded from January to April 2025. Patients aged 15 to 25 years old saw a 500% increase, comprising the bulk of recorded cases.

Manabilang attributed the lack of awareness in uphill barangays and far-flung communities as a factor in the increase of HIV-positive cases.

“Hopefully, we have more LGUs — down to the barangay sector — that will be more educated and provided with services that help them provide treatments for the HIV [intervention] advocacy.”

Uphill battle, united front

For many of Cebu’s advocates, the challenge of providing help to LGBTQ individuals and people living with HIV is operating on limited resources. Many health advocacy organizations like LoveYourself PH were affected by the US government’s termination of a majority of its global health aid programs.

“We’re still getting support from other countries but it still has a very big impact,” Manabilang said.

Prior to the new policy implemented by US President Donald Trump’s administration, Manabilang noted that they could provide at least 3 units of medication for HIV-positive patients.

Now, they have no choice but to limit it to one unit per patient.

Despite this, the advocate said that they are still working on providing education to communities in order to combat the stigma and rising trend of HIV.

According to Cebu Pride Movement co-founder Matthew Basabe, more LGUs are joining the movement and supporting the SOGIESC advocacy through the years.

“Even Talisay [City] is getting best practices from Mandaue [City]. We’re seeing LGUs seeing the importance — not just as a gimmick or as a [political stunt] — but the importance of celebrating pride,” Basabe said.

Basabe explained that representatives of Cebu’s Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector have also reached out to the Cebu Pride Movement to help with the integration of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) frameworks in their respective organizations.

“DEI is a module centered on diversity, equity and inclusion. It’s a standard module for office inclusion,” Basabe said.

Under DEI, organizations institute measures to promote fair treatment among workers and equal participation that recognize an individual’s ethnicity, race, sex, gender, faith, and abilities/disabilities.