Transgender woman files

complaint vs Araneta Center,

agencies for discrimination
By CNN Philippines Staff
Published Aug 16, 2019 4:25:43 PM

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 16) — Transgender woman

Gretchen Diez on Friday formally filed a complaint against Araneta
Center and its contracted security and sanitation agencies for
the discrimination she experienced at a mall in Cubao, Quezon City.
Diez lodged her complaint before the Quezon City Pride Council after
she was blocked from using a women's restroom in Farmers Plaza. Mall
security detained then handcuffed her and brought her to Quezon City
Police District Station 7 Tuesday night for an unjust vexation complaint
filed against her by the mall janitress. This stemmed from Diez’ video
recording of her confrontation with the cleaning staff.
She said mall owner Araneta Center, Starline Security Agency, Inc., and
the sanitation services agency that contracted the said janitress were
negligent.
"I am of the firm belief that the said acts of discrimination and
harassment that I have experienced should never have happened, had
the three had not been remiss in their responsibilities as employers of
the specific persons involved and as the administrator of the place
where the incident happened," she said in her complaint.
She said the three companies failed to prevent or control the
harassment committed against her — from the discrimination to her
detention in the mall's security office. She said Araneta Center and the
two agencies are equally responsible for the incident.
Diez said the discriminatory acts were a clear violation of the city's
ordinance because it showed that the sanitary staff and security
officers that handled the incident were unaware of the provisions of
the city's rule to protect the queer.
 Philippines president Duterte tells crowd he used
to be gay before he 'cured himself' by dating first
wife
‘When I began a relationship ... I said, this is it. I became a man
again’
 Adam Forrest @adamtomforrest
 Saturday 1 June 2019 22:58
The president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte has told a crowd at an
event in Japan that he had been “cured” of being gay by beautiful
women.
Speaking to members of the country’s Filipino community in Tokyo, the
controversial leader reportedly said he “became a man again” after
meeting his first wife Elizabeth Zimmerman.
Mr Duterte attempted to mocked one of his strongest critics, Senator
Antonio Trillanes IV, by implying he was gay.
The president claimed someone told him the way Mr Trillanes moved
suggested he was a homosexual, in remarks quoted by the Philippines-
based news site Rappler.
“Good thing Trillanes and I are similar. But I cured myself. When I began
a relationship with [ex-wife Elizabeth] Zimmerman, I said, this is it. I
became a man again. Mr Duterte ended the speech by inviting several
women up on stage to kiss him.
“First, you shouldn’t be married, okay? Second, you’re not a minor,” he
said, according to CNN Philippines. The 71-year-old leader then
pointed out four particular women and had them brought up onstage.
The president’s current partner, Honeylet Avanceña, was with him
during the event. He had earlier referred to her as his “one and only”.
Mr Duterte has a history of using homophobic slurs to insult political
opponents, according to Rappler. Although he had appeared to be a
supporter of LGBT equality, in 2017 the president said marriage should
only be between a man and a women.
Bulacan drug busts turn lethal, kill 3
suspects
Inquirer Baguio / 06:25 PM August 18, 2019

CAMP GEN. ALEJO SANTOS, Bulacan—Three suspected drug

pusher were killed in clashes with police in separate buy-bust
operations in the province on Saturday (Aug. 17).
Col. Chito Bersaluna, Bulacan police director, identified the slain
suspects as Harold Sunpongco, Alfie Garcia, and Julius Ace
Lavarro.
Bersaluna said drug busts were carried out between 2 a.m. and 11
p.m. in the towns of San Rafael, Norzagaray and Bulakan.
Seized from the suspects were .38-caliber revolvers, bullets,
“shabu” (crystal meth), marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Carmela Reyes-Estrope/TSB