The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) – as it aims to be “A World-Class Armed Forces, Source of National Pride” – is against discrimination towards LGBT people.
This was stressed by AFP Brigadier General Jac Motril, who said that “the military organization respects, protects, and fulfills the rights of the Filipino people. It would be taboo for the AFP to discriminate against LGBT individuals.”
This is also in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with the AFP treating “all its applicants fairly every time (we) recruit new members.”
“The provisions of the pertinent regulations in our procurement of officers and soldiers do not mention anything that would be considered discriminatory to any applicant,” Motril said.
For Motril, as long as the person interested to join the military service meets the requirements – their religion, color, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other distinctions of status – will not be an issue.
The AFP also supposedly already improved their enlistment and reenlistment procedures for recruitment, promotion, and procurement services to become gender fair.
“We uniformly treat all military personnel equally, just like any able-bodied individual, regardless of whether they are LGBT or not,” Motril said. “The AFP is not at odds with any particular sector in the country and only focuses its attention on its mandate, which is to protect the Filipino people and secure the sovereignty of the State.”
This is also why Motril expressed his support to “all endeavors that aim to improve the lives of Filipino LGBT people.”
It is still worth highlighting that acting according to socially-defined masculine versus feminine behaviors is expected within AFP. For instance, the AFP Code of Ethics has provisions that can be used to discriminate against lesbian and gay members of the military. An example is Article 5 (Military Professionalism) Section 4.3 (Unethical Acts) of the AFP Code of Ethics, which states:
“Military personnel shall likewise be recommended for discharge/separation for reason of unsuitability due to all acts or omissions which deviate from established and accepted ethical and moral standards of behavior and performance as set forth in the AFP Code of Ethics. The following are examples: Fornication, Adultery, Concubinage, Homosexuality, Lesbianism, and Pedophilia.”
Motril himself acknowledged that “I know there are lesbians and gays in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and they perform their official duties in their respective units just like any regular military personnel does. I’m not aware if there are bisexuals and transgenders (sic) in the AFP. But if there are any, I suppose they would be expected to behave accordingly with respect to AFP norms and official regulations.”
Motril personally knows of different LGBT individuals in AFP. One – a lesbian Technical Sergeant who serves as a staff member in AFP’s education and training institution – was commended for her “remarkable physical strength”, which, by AFP’s benchmark, is rated higher than some male soldiers in her unit. Another is a gay soldier who – when Motril first met in 1985 – had the rank of Private, serving as a mess assistant for a commanding general of an infantry division. He has since retired, then ranked as a Master Sergeant in the army.
“I believe that LGBTs have the right to equal protection of the law. I welcome any policy to advance the move for gender fairness and additional protection against discrimination of LGBT people,” Motril ended.
