Geraldine Roman

Geraldine B. 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.^[2][3][4]

Biography

Geraldine Roman was born in 1967^[5] was the second of four children born into a political family, to Herminia Roman and Antonino Roman, Jr.^[6] She spent her early childhood in Orani, Bataan.^[5] She was teased by her classmates but her father taught her to be confident. ^[4]

Roman attended 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.^[7] 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.^[4]

Political career

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. The winner of the election was set to replace the incumbent Herminia Roman, Geraldine's mother, who was term-limited. She competed against Hermosa mayor Danilo Malana of Aksyon Demokratiko and won by more than 62% of votes and became the first ever transgender congresswoman in Philippine congress.^[6]

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.^[8] 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.^[9][10] She left the Liberal Party in May 2017 and transferred to PDP–Laban, the current ruling political party of the Philippines.^[1]

Political positions

Death penalty

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. She earlier 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 Bataan and 85 percent of participants in a survey she conducted favored death penalty. In an event of an opposite result, Roman hoped to used the survey results as an "alibi" to a vote against the bill but she maintained that she has to conform to the views of her constituents.^[11]

Same-sex marriage

Roman supports same-sex civil unions for the Philippines, but does not prioritize it. She said the first thing to enact is an anti-discrimination law, after which, a revision of the family code comes second. She believes that at present time, a marriage equality bill will not pass in congress due to the present status quo, a reason why a campaign for it should be a top priority in the coming decades.

Health services

Roman supports a cancer institute bill, which she authored. She supports the health bills of Em Aglipay in the House of Representatives and Risa Hontiveros in the Senate.

Personal life

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.^[4][5] Roman's partner is a Spanish man in Spain, but they are not married.^[12] She also speaks Spanish, French and Italian.^[13] She is a practicing Catholic.^[14]

Awards and Recognitions

• 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016 by US-based Foreign Policy magazine^[15]
• Inspiring Woman of 2016 by Time magazine^[16]

References