Geraldine Roman

Geraldine Batista Roman (born 1967) is a Filipino journalist and politician. She was elected as the Representative of the 1st District of Bataan following the 2016 Philippine elections, becoming the first openly transgender woman elected to the Congress of the Philippines.

Geraldine Roman, born in 1967, was the second of four children born into the family of politicians Herminia Roman and Antonino Roman, Jr. She spent her early childhood in Orani, Bataan. She was teased by her classmates but her father taught her to be confident.

Roman attended the Ateneo de Manila University for her elementary and high school studies. For her collegiate studies, she attended the University of the Philippines. She managed to secure a scholarship to pursue journalism at the University of the Basque Country in Spain and attained two Master's degrees. She worked in Spain as a senior editor for the Spanish News Agency before returning to the Philippines in 2012 to take care of her father, who was seriously ill by that time.

Congress

During the 2016 Philippine elections, Roman ran under the Liberal Party banner for the position of 1st District Representative for Bataan in the House of Representatives. She competed against Hermosa mayor Danilo Malana of Aksyon Demokratiko and won with more than 62% of the total votes and became the first ever transgender congresswoman in the Congress of the Philippines. Roman succeeded the incumbent, her mother Hermina Roman, who had a limited term.

She, along with other elected lawmakers (collectively known as "equality champs"), launched the passage of the anti-discrimination bill on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity (now known as the SOGIE Equality Bill) through a speech in the House of Representatives that garnered international support for LGBT rights in the Philippines. She also filed bills regarding eco-tourism, livelihood enhancements, agriculture advancements, health, and education, which were the advocacies of her family, and were focused on the first district of Bataan. She was named as one of the "13 Inspiring Woman of 2016" by Time magazine in October 2016. She left the Liberal Party in May 2017 and transferred to PDP–Laban, the current ruling political party of the Philippines, to hasten the House passage of the bills that she supported. In September 2017, the SOGIE Equality Bill passed unanimously in the House of Representatives, after 17 years of political limbo, with no lawmakers voting against it. Roman thanked Dinagat Islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao, who was the principal author of the bill. In January 2018, Roman, along with the House Speaker, filed House Bill 6595 (the Civil Partnership Bill), which seeks to legalize civil unions, regardless of gender. In February, Roman became the first transgender official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. In August 2018, she filed the Regional Investment and Infrastructure Council Act, which sought to create special economic zones in Luzon. In September, Roman became the first committee chair of the newly-created House Committee on Disaster Management. In October, she again pushed for the same-sex civil union bill, adding that the "sky will not fall" if the bill is passed. During the same month, she filed her certificate of candidacy for reelection in her district. In November 2018, during the first meeting of the House Committee on Disaster Management which she chairs, Roman prioritized the rehabilitation of the war-torn Islamic City of Marawi.

Political positions

Federalism

Roman expressed her support for a federal form of government in the Philippines, but stated that she will introduce a clause that aims to guarantee the country's territorial integrity as she perceives that a federal system without such clause will lead to separatism due to the country's various ethnic groups, geographies, and regionalism. She cited the Spanish federal system as a possible reference for the Philippines' federal prospects.

Habeas corpus

Roman voted to approve a bill reinstate the death penalty in the Philippines during its final reading in March 29, 2017, which met criticism online. She explained that she needed to compromise in order for her other advocacies and projects to push through. Earlier, she expressed opposition to the bill and called for the respect of the rights of convicts for reformation. Roman held a survey to gauge the views of her constituents in first district of Bataan and 85 percent of participants in a survey she conducted favored death penalty.

Same-sex marriage

Roman is the vice-chairperson of the Women And Gender Equality Committee of the Philippine House of Representatives. She supports same-sex civil unions for the Philippines, but said the first priority should be an anti-discrimination law, followed by a revision of the family code. She believes that at the present time, a marriage equality bill will not pass in Congress, due to the present status quo, which is why campaigning for it should be a top priority in the coming decades. She said in an interview that once the SOGIE Equality Bill passes the House of Representatives, she will file a civil union bill and push for its enactment. In September 2017, the SOGIE Equality Bill passed in the House. In late 2017, Roman filed a civil union bill that caters to both heterosexual couples and non-heterosexual couples. The bill is backed by the majority of lawmakers in the House of Representatives, including the House Speaker.

In June 2018, Roman expressed her thoughts in support of marriage equality, saying that the most feasible option at the moment would be a civil partnership bill, as it has a greater chance of being approved in Congress than a same-sex marriage bill. The only difference between the two is the name of the matrimony, from 'marriage' to 'civil union or partnership.' All benefits are the same. Additionally, she noted that she is a legislator who knows how to look at the realism of Philippine politics and that an 'all or nothing' activist approach might trigger greater defiance against the LGBT community, leading to the blocked passage of any LGBT partnership or marriage bills.

Health services

Roman is a member of the Health Committee of the House of Representatives. She has filed a Cancer Institute bill in the House as well as a Caregiver's bill. She supports the health bills of Em Aglipay in the House of Representatives and Risa Hontiveros in the Senate. In an interview, she expressed her intent to file a bill for sex realignment surgeries. Roman is against conversion therapy as she believes that the therapy is one of the causes of depression and suicide for LGBT citizens. Roman supports the Mental Health Law, which was passed in 2017. Conversion therapy shall be illegal once the SOGIE Equality bill passes in the Senate.

War veterans' rights

Roman is an advocate for war veteran rights in the Philippines. She is the vice chairperson for the Veteran Affairs and Welfare Committee in the House of Representatives. She has filed a bill seeking to increase the monthly pension of Filipino war veterans.

Tourism

Roman is an avid fan of history, culture, and the environment. She stated that her love for culture and the environment developed at home and was polished during her almost 20 years of stay in Spain, where she learned a lot about history and received two master's degrees. She has filed bills for the protection and conservation of numerous tourist sites in the first district of Bataan.

Education

Roman support higher education in the Philippines. She has filed the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Students (UNIFAST) bill in the House of Representatives. Additionally, she has filed a bill which seeks to mandate the government to open all of its books to the people via online library.

Indigenous people's rights

Roman has filed a bill seeking to increase the representation of indigenous peoples in the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, which is near her home province of Bataan.

Agriculture and aquaculture

Roman has filed bills on the sustainability of agriculture and aquaculture in the province of Bataan. She has also filed the re-allotment of public lands and urban lands for agricultural lands.

In the 1990s, Roman underwent sex reassignment surgery at age 26 in New York City and had her name changed. Her gender was also legally changed to the one she identifies with. Roman's partner is a Spanish man in Spain, but they are not married. Aside from her native Tagalog, she also speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian. She is a practicing Catholic.

• 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 by US-based Foreign Policy magazine
• Part of "Inspiring Women of 2016" list by Time magazine