A Decade in Review

My last decade was spent on advocacy work I never imagined I could accomplish. In spite of some personal tumult, 2010's highlight was my participation at the International Federation on Ageing conference in Melbourne where we floated the idea of proposing a UN convention on elderly rights. 2010 also marked a major gain for the Filipino LGBT Community when the Supreme Court sided with Ladlad and finally granted us the right to run as a Partylist. But the best of 2010 was the passage of RA 9994 which we worked on for 3 yrs just to improve availment of benefits by senior citizens, and I have to credit my valuable partnerships with other govt agencies and even the business sector for this major accomplishment. 2011 was just more work on this, fine-tuning to get RA9994 'online' so to speak, with majority of our efforts focused on the Social Pension guidelines. In between, I was able to network with some local and international human rights institutions to promote LGBT rights such as that conference in Bangkok. With those little successes, came another opportunity to also help another 'forgotten' sector, the Solo Parents whose own law went ignored since its passage in 2000. After some meetings with like-minded individuals from within esp DSWD-STB, we pooled together some funding to conduct some dialogues and consultations at 7 chosen Field Ofcs to renew interest in the law. This led to the crafting of a policy paper and draft amendments to the Solo Parents Act. As a result, my 2012 was a whirlwind of lectures, advocacy work and travel. I was doing back to back talks and orientations on RA 9994 for seniors, the proposed Solo Parents Act amendments, and my own LGBT sector which actually gave me the opportunity for foreign travel. That March, I was part of the landmark event in Geneva when the UN Human Rights Council formally tackled the status of LGBTs worldwide through a comprehensive report that called for the recognition and protection of our human rights. Later that year, I joined fellow feminists and women's rights advocates in ChiangMai for an Asia Pacific regional conference on the status and promotion of women's welfare. But before the year ended, I won a scholarship to attend a prestigious seminar, the Advanced Geneva Training on the promotion of human rights at the UN level. Although marred by private upheavals, there were also positive developments in my personal life in 2012. 2013, 2014 and 2015 was just more of the various lectures, orientations, and meetings, which meant my advocacy work was always grounded and empowering for the marginalized sectors I sought to help. In 2013, together with my fellow LGBT advocates around the world, we gathered in Nepal to discuss other ways to engage the UN systems to promote LGBT rights. In 2015, I had the honor of representing the Philippines at an ASEAN conference on Ageing to address the needs of the elderly population of Asia. Always, I was thankful for those people who believed and supported these dreams, or rather, this vision to truly make an impact. Govt agencies, the business sector, LGUs and even the senior citizens themselves worked tirelessly to be on the same page, capacitating themselves to ensure faithful and efficient implementation of RA 9994. Meanwhile, Filipino LGBTs finally made their presence known in mainstream society, gaining more confidence in organizing themselves, becoming more visible in political venues and govt programs, enough to give the PartyList system another try for actual representation in Congress. During this period, everyone thought the legislative and policy-making track was an effective strategy, so Solo Parents kept pushing for their amendment, LGBTs advocated for their Anti-Discrimination bill, while the elderly sector even came up with a human rights situationer, A Multi-Stakeholders Dialogue and Policy and Legislative Agenda in 2015. All these were meant to be presented to political aspirants for 2016 campaign and national elections. At this point, I made a conscious effort to slow down and spend more time with my loved ones, although from time to time I had to drag them around with me as I do my work. From provincial tours, to barangay-level talks, to schools and media interviews, wifey and little girl accompanied me, which once prompted my daughter to quip, 'may talk ka na naman, Dada...ano, seniors, solo parents, o LGBT?' she was barely 6 then. My last hurrah for my sectoral work came by the passage of the Centenarians Act and the amendment to the Magna Carta of PWDs in the latter part of 2016. That same year too saw the establishment of an Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity as a special mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council, 3 years after our conference in Kathmandu. I was happy to see much of our work come to fruition before I left for my new post. Those 7 years were well spent and were worth the effort as I continue to see sectors benefitting from what we accomplished for them. The past 3 years of the decade I have spent with the DSWD Procurement, where most of our hard work go unnoticed and unrecognized except for complaints of delay. But my greatest frustration is that maybe I am not making much of an impact in society as I used to nowadays. I felt guilty that I was being selfish when in 2017 I focused on building up my managerial and technical skills when I pursued my Career Executive Service eligibility and Procurement Specialist certification. To my credit, I finished my CES journey in 1 year and landed on the top of my Public Procurement Specialist Level 1 class. On occasion, I am still called upon to give lectures and talks which are a welcome respite to the drudgery of administrative support work, unlike the challenge of legislative advocacy and policy devt work. I am also happy to be given the opportunity to teach, albeit only through distance learning program of UPOU, but I have discovered that I really have the knack for teaching. I closed the decade amazed at how so much was accomplished without my realizing it. I simply trudged on, working hard, persisting, insisting, gathering allies and supporters who became life-long friends along the way because they also truly believed in making the world a better place. Yet so much still needs to be done, as the Solo Parents amendment and Anti-Discrimination bills still languish in Congress even after generation upon generation of legislators have passed through its walls. I also desire to go back to my UPLB and Agribusiness roots as I have begun to take my love for animals and my belief in producing your own food seriously. I am no longer content with just a small urban garden and although my own dogs are rescues and adoptees, I would want to do more for all those strays starving and getting run over in the streets. May the Universe hear my heart's desire and cooperate to provide me the same beautiful opportunities this coming 2020 onwards.