Equal protection for all in support of the Filipino family

In my book that was published in 2019 entitled “Empowering the Abused Men,” I shared that “12 percent of ever-married women (14,500) reported that they have initiated physical violence against their husbands/partners” per 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)). If the said figure is going to be projected to the national total, the actual aggregate number of cases of abused husbands/partners could be a lot more. This PSA survey only highlighted “physical violence” but not the other types of abuse/violence (verbal, psychological, economic, sexual).In fact, at the barangay level, a husband who wants to file a case of domestic violence against his wife will just be referred to the “safety desk” while a wife who is an alleged victim of domestic violence by her husband could easily be accommodated at the “women’s desk” per Republic Act No. 9262 (Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004).

To date, several bills have been filed in the House of Representatives and Senate, as follows: House Bill No. 4888 (2019) and HB 1365 (2022); Senate Bill No. 211 (2022), amending RA 9262 to include battered men/husbands/partners in its coverage but have remained pending. Among others, the rationale for the said bills is anchored on the principle that “violence knows no gender.”

Aside from some sections of the Revised Penal Code on “serious/less serious physical injuries,” there is no specific law defining violence against men/husbands and partners in LGBT relationships. Nonetheless, RA 9262 protects women and children in an abusive domestic setting. Just as an aside, though, even animals are accorded protection per RA 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act of 1998.

Among others, the rationale behind this move to enact a law for the protection of men in an abusive relationship is to ensure that “gender equality” is hereby respected. Gender equality is a basic human right and said principle calls for equal civic, political, economic, social, and cultural rights for all individuals.

Hopefully, said law will promote harmony rather than hamper unity in the family and society.

Emiliano M. Manahan Jr.,advocate and author,

onan512004@yahoo.com