The SOGIE Bill and The Fall of Allan Troy Sass Rogando

First of all, I have gay friends and relatives whose views on the SOGIE bill I support regardless of my own views on the proposed law.

Second, this is about Sass, a.k.a. Allan Troy, Rogando and how he seems to have maliciously USED people whom I count as friends in his hysterical rampage to make noise for the stillborn bill.

Third, this is not about the SOGIE Bill which I hope will be SOBERLY deliberated upon in plenary in both houses of congress by our legislator.

Sass’ first offence was saying that the Pangandamans had beaten up a security guard. WRONG!

What Sass was referring to was an incident at the Valley Golf Club where the father of golfer/golfer Bambee Dela Paz pestered and publicly ridiculed the party of then DAR secretary Nasser Pangandaman over some golf rules.

Pangandaman’s security detail, upon seeing the elder Dela Paz coming too close to comfort and in a mad fit, prevented him from making further advances.

The golfer/blogger was slapped with libel for the defamatory blog she published.

I’ve already notified the Pangandaman family of Sass’ post and all they had to say is that, “Clearly, this guy is an irresponsible blogger.”

I offered Sass a number of times to arrange a meeting with the Pangandamans but it seems he’d rather not hear the other side of the Valley Golf incident story — as any responsible individual should.

I’ll guarantee his safety, of course. The Pangandamans are a very kind people.

Sass second offence was USING Anakalusugan Party List Representative Mike Defensor and his daughter to push the SOGIE bill.

First of all, Cong. Mike’s daughter is a private individual and it would have only been proper for Sass to ask if SHE could be used to support the propaganda for the SOGIE bill.

Second, as far as I know, Cong. Mike isn’t even in THE COMMITTEE where the SOGIE bill has been assigned for deliberation.

Upon being confronted with this, Sass said, “I based my post on a publicly written article by Boy Abunda in March 2019 in Philippine Star.”

I answered, “That was an article written about his daughter’s debut. Absolutely nothing to do with SOGIE, but I guess your ploy was to somehow play that to pressure Cong. Mike into supporting SOGIE.”

Sass answered, “Nope. I’m not putting pressure on him. He voted for SOGIE during the last congress, why would he need pressure for something he has a track record in supporting…”

I answered, “Last congress? You must be confused!!! Ngayon lang siya bumalik as congressman!”

For everyone’s information, this is what Anakalusugan Party List Representative Mike Defensor has to say about the SOGIE Bill. Please note the last paragraph.

My sister-in-law Vicky recently called my attention to a post made by Sass Rogando Sassot thanking me for being a loving father to my daughter Miguel. This is not the first time I have been thanked for doing what a father should, but Boy Abunda and his PA Phil, and my friend Melo from UP did so and I honestly am amused by the attention I’m getting from simply doing what’s right. But deep inside, I am aware as to why they can’t help but praise and thank me because they themselves and many of their friends have undergone horrible experiences growing up from their fathers, mothers, their families and peers in the community and school. Bullying has now been a universal issue and campaigns left and right are being pursued and yet the gay child growing up is probably the most tormented person victimized by this shameful act.

Miguel, my daughter, opened up to me when she was 17. She was to leave for the UK the next day for her continuing studies and she spoke to her siblings and later on called me and my wife,Julie, for a family meeting. Mikee, the eldest, said, “go ahead, Miguel, tell dad”. Silence. Miguel replied, “ you tell dad ate”. Then Mikee said, “dad, Miguel is gay”. Out of instinct, I immediately hugged her and said, “I love you and nothing will change”. I continued hugging her to let her know that I love her and to assure her. Again, it was out of instinct because I didn’t want her to be afraid of me which I felt she felt at that moment. Maybe a stupid assumption but that was how I felt then. While hugging her, I continued whispering to her that, “I love her and that our morality stays the same’. Meaning now that I consider her a woman, that I can argue (dictate) what she can and can’t wear. (hahaha)

So now, comes the SOGIE bill. Many people are arguing for and against it without really understanding what the bill is all about. Bro. Eddie Villanueva, I believe, made one of the most clear and intellectual discussion about the bill. There was no hatred nor bigotry from his speech and it was based on a well founded Christian perspective. There are several SOGIE bills filed, of which he based his comments, and only one will be discussed in the plenary of Congress. Meaning, from all the proposals there will be discussions and one unified bill will be debated and voted upon.Allow me to post the points he raised and my discussion on the matter.

1. Parents are not allowed to supervise (dictate) on their children below 18 years of age.

I’m also against this but abuse by parents just because of gender should also not be tolerated. My chemist in my company was put in a sack and tied to a tree just because he’s gay. He would tell me of other horrible experiences he went through as a child which is sad and despicable. Now he’s the one taking care of his father. Showing love despite of her childhood difficulties.

2. Schools are not allowed to discriminate.

Brother Eddie raised the situation of Catholic and Christian schools where boys and girls are separated. I agree with him that a school has the right to make it exclusively just for girls and boys. The SOGIE bill’s point is not to imposed on schools acceptance based on gender but rather discrimination and bigotry by schools just because a person is gay or lesbian. In Ateneo, for example, kids are not kicked out just because of sexual orientation but because of grades and conduct.

3. Utterances against homosexuals are against religious freedom

Bro Eddie pointed out that pastors and priests are now prohibited because of this law, if passed, and is against religious freedom. Again, the point is not to target the religious sector whose belief we respect. Pastors, Priests and those from the religious speak from the biblical perspective and not in an inhumane and derogatory manner. The objective of the bill is to stop demeaning, derogatory, slanderous and defamotory comments of which bottomline is to respect rights of a person which, I believe, someone from the religious sector would not commit. Again, subject to style, a compromise may be attained on this.

4. It is class legislation as only one sector is favored

There have been many laws now around the world which protect LGBTQ rights. Some have even reached the highest courts of the respective countries like the US. The SOGIE bill does not favor the LGBTQ community. The Senior Citizens Law, the Person With Disablities Act and the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act were passed to help and protect the marginalized sectors of our society. This law, in the same manner, protects the rights of the socially marginalized.There is nothing wrong with favoring a certain class of people if they are in need of greater protection under the law.

More than anything else, the SOGIE bill is about love, kindness and tolerance. We can always disagree but we should have the temerity to tolerate those who do not share our beliefs. To be fair, the Filipinos are kind and loving people. We do not hear of the discrimation, cruelty and violence of the other countries on the basis of gender orientation. However, there are still incidents here and there of these kind of behaviour and we should therefore protect those who might be violated.

Since the posting of SASS of me and my daughter dancing during her debut, there have been nasty, degrading and cruel comments on her FB page. I am shocked and angered that she is being dragged in this issue as i have always insulated my family from politics. People can criticize, humiliate and ridicule me all they want but they should never involve my family as they are not fairplay nor part of the political debate. These people, to my mind, are the ones targeted by the bill which motivates me more to fight not just for my daughter but for all of those past and present suffering from their ignorance and idiocy.

P. Farol

Writer.