1. 17th Congress of the
Philippines
Cong. Geraldine Roman

2. Geraldine Roman
• Geraldine Batista Roman (born April 23, 1967) is
a Filipina journalist and politician serving as
the Representative of Bataan's 1st district since 2016. She is the
first transgender person elected to the Congress of the
Philippines.[1][2]
• She was named as one of the 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2016
by US-based Foreign Policy magazine; one of "13 Inspiring Women
of 2016" list by Time magazine.

3. Biography
• Geraldine Roman was born as a male, she is second of four children born into
the family of politicians Herminia Roman and Antonino Roman, Jr.[5] She was
teased by her classmates but her father taught her to be confident.[6]
• Roman attended the basic education unit of Ateneo de Manila University for her
elementary and high school studies. For her collegiate studies, she attended
the University of the Philippines Diliman. 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. 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.

5. • 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.[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 Women 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,
to hasten the House passage of the bills that she supported.

6. • 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. 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.[12] In February,
Roman became the first transgender official of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines.[13] In August 2018, she filed the Regional Investment and
Infrastructure Council Act, which sought to create special economic zones
in Luzon.[14] In September, Roman became the first committee chair of
the newly created House Committee on Disaster Management.[15]

7. • In October, she again pushed for the same-sex civil union bill, adding that
the "sky will not fall" if the bill is passed.[16] During the same month, she
filed her certificate of candidacy for reelection in her district.[17] 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.
• In the 2019 Philippine elections, Roman ran under the PDP–
Laban banner for the position of 1st District Representative for Bataan in
the House of Representatives. She competed against Emelita Justo
Lubag of Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino and won with 91% of the
total votes.

8. Committee Memberships
• Veterans Affairs and Welfare, Chairperson
• Women and Gender Equality, Vice Chairperson
• Appropriations, Member of the Majority
• Climate Change, Member of the Majority
• Poverty Alleviation, Member of the Majority
• Sustainable Development Goals, Member of the Majority

9. House Measures Authored
• HB05225
• AN ACT MANDATING THE PROVISION OF FREE WI-FI INTERNET ACCESS
IN PUBLIC AREAS
• Status: Republic Act RA10929 enacted on 2017-08-02
• HB05563
• AN ACT DECLARING APRIL 21 OF EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL NONWORKING
HOLIDAY IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF ORANI, PROVINCE OF BATAAN, IN
COMMEMORATION OF ITS FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY, TO BE KNOWN AS
"ORANI FOUNDATION DAY"
• Status: Republic Act RA11145 enacted on 2018-11-09

10. • HB06178
• AN ACT DECLARING JANUARY 11 OF EVERY YEAR A SPECIAL
NONWORKING HOLIDAY IN THE PROVINCE OF BATAAN IN
COMMEMORATION OF ITS FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY, TO BE KNOWN AS "
BATAAN FOUNDATION DAY "
• Status: Republic Act RA11138 enacted on 2018-11-09
• HB07525
• AN ACT INCREASING THE MONTHLY PENSION OF SENIOR VETERANS
THEREBY AMENDING RA 6948, AS AMENDED
• Status: Republic Act RA11164 enacted on 2018-12-20

11. • HB08636
• AN ACT INSTITUTIONALIZING A NATIONAL INTEGRATED CANCER
CONTROL PROGRAM AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR
• Status: Republic Act RA11215 enacted on 2019-02-14
• HB08794
• AN ACT DEFINING GENDER-BASED SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN STREETS,
PUBLIC SPACES, ONLINE, WORKPLACES, AND EDUCATIONAL OR
TRAINING INSTITUTIONS, PROVIDING PROTECTIVE MEASURES AND
PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR
• Status: Republic Act RA11313 enacted on 2019-04-17

12. Political positions
• Federalism[edit]
• 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.

13. • Habeas corpus[edit]
• Roman voted to approve a bill to reinstate the death penalty in the
Philippines during its final reading on 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.

14. • Same-sex marriage[edit]
• Roman is the vice-chairperson of the Women And Gender Equality Committee of
the Philippine House of Representatives.[21] 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. 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.

15. • Health services[edit]
• Roman is a member of the Health Committee of the House of
Representatives.[21] She has filed a Cancer Institute bill in the
House which was passed into law last February of this year as well
as a Caregiver's bill. Roman supports the Mental Health Law, which
was passed in 2017. She has filed a Hospitals Classification Bill
which seeks to standardize the equipment, facilities, and services
of hospitals on the basis of their level of classification.