GBV CASE IN NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
The victim, a member of LGBTQIA+ Community suffered from discrimination
committed by a Barangay Captain of a local government in NCR. Documented
through the Commission’s GBV online portal, the said victim was arbitrarily
detained from April 12, 2020 until the end of April 2020 by the said Barangay
Captain in the Barangay Hall as the Person Under Investigation (PUI). The victim,
a transwoman, complained that she was not duly informed of the reason for her
detention and that she was taken by surprise that the Barangay Captain already
prevented her from going home after she sought assistance in seeking medical
examination from a nearby hospital.
According to the victim, the place where she stayed was very dirty and
that she was treated in a very degrading manner. While she was provided with
food, it was often handed out to her as if she was a dog. During her confinement,
the victim even attempted suicide but to no avail. Almost no one talked to her
and she was very depressed. Even after the required 14 days of quarantine, the
victims remained in confinement as the Barangay Captain wanted to wait for her
COVID test results before allowing her to leave. By the time the results came out
by the end of April 2020, victim was already known in the entire Barangay as a
COVID patient despite her negative test results. While the Barangay Captain told
her to leave their barangay, the victim already had no place to go because of
the stigma. When a person finally offered her a place to stay, the Barangay
Captain admonished her benefactor for accepting her saying that the victim is a
“pasaway na bakla”.