24 June 2021: Manila, Philippines – Capping off this year’s Pride Month and putting the spotlight on LGBT+ small business recovery efforts in the time of COVID-19, the Philippine LGBT Chamber of Commerce hosted the online event “Recover with Pride”.
Organized in partnership with the Center for International Private Enterprise, “Recover with Pride” is a Manila virtual forum on Inclusion, Diversity, and Equality that tackles the current landscape and future of #LGBT enterprises in the next normal.
Joining Chair Ronn Astillas in the event was Australian Parliament member Tim Wilson; Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and the city’s Gender Consultant Atty. Clara Rita Padilla; Castro Communications Managing Director Janlee Dungca; as well as serial entrepreneur and owner of Kitchen Joes, Haibee Pure Native Coffee, and Communi-T Jane Joe.
Wilson noted that the pandemic highlighted the necessity of economic growth and opportunities for vulnerable communities, especially as they are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
Mayor Belmonte meanwhile stressed that education will help the LGBT+ community bounce back from the challenges that COVID-19 has brought, and give people a fighting chance. The politician’s statement was further expanded by the city’s gender consultant, Atty. Padilla, who shared that the local government’s “Gender Fair Ordinance” has been ensuring the protection of the LGBT+ community through affirmative acts in employment, education, delivery of goods and services, and accommodation.
Even before pandemic, the said ordinance has been requiring Gender and Development (GAD) as well as SOGIE (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression) trainings as a prerequisite for businesses to receive their business permit.
Dungca and Joe, as heads and owners of LGBT+ businesses, stated that recovery meant reiterating their relevance to their stakeholders and partners. Because LGBT+ businesses are undeniably one of the hardest-hit by COVID-19, resiliency and sustainability requires tapping into available tools that will help everyone tide over these trying times.
As summarized by Chamber Chair Ronn Astillas:
“Building inclusive communities requires looking at the correct parameters and variables. We need to look at the legal framework and protection, representation and visibility, access to and delivery of public services, stigma reduction, openness and transparency of public institutions, and vertical institutional sensitivity and recognition of everyone’s SOGIESC.
“Creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ecosystem–or DEIcosystem–would mean rigorously assessing the workplace, which will create a ripple effect on the marketplace, and then the communal space. This bigger picture should always connect with those who have materially less in life.”
Springboarding from this activity, the Chamber is working on its Governance SOGIE Diversity & Inclusiveness Index, which will assess the measures and policies in place within government to ensure wider SOGIESC inclusion, diversity, and equity. This study is set to be released this 2021.