The Philippine military has welcomed
its first transgender officer, the defence
department said Thursday, swearing in a
prominent member of Congress as a
reservist.
Geraldine Roman, 50, who became the
Catholic-majority nation’s first transgender
person elected to Congress in 2016, took
her oath on Wednesday.
“That indeed makes her the first transgender
officer in the Armed Forces of the
Philippines,” defence department spokesman
Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.
Her being part of the (military) underscores
the fact that gender is not an issue when it
comes to serving the country,” he added.
The Philippine military frequently inducts
prominent figures like legislators and cabinet
members as reserve officers.
Roman was appointed as a lieutenant colonel
in the army reserves, alongside two fellow
House of Representatives members, the
statement added.
“War and disaster do not recognise gender,
it affects everybody, and everyone must
defend and serve our communities, and our
country,” the statement quoted her saying
during the ceremony.
Born to a politically prominent family based
near Manila, Roman changed her gender in
the 1990s.
Her political success has been hailed by
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
campaigners in a conservative society where
divorce and same-sex marriage are both
banned.
The Philippine military last year announced it
would accept LGBT applicants “as long as
they act and move with dignity.”--AFP


This handout photo taken below,was on February 14,
2018 and released by the Department of
National Defense (DND) shows Philippine
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (right)
leading the oath-taking for newly-appointed
lieutenant colonel and congressman, Edwin
Marino Ongchuan of Northern Samar (left),
Congresswoman Divina Grace Yu of
Zamboanga Del Sur’s First District (2nd
right), and Congresswoman Geraldine Roman
(centre) as reservist officers in the Philippine
Army during a ceremony at the defense
office in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City,
suburban Manila. In May 2016 Geraldine
Roman became the first transgender
politician to win a congressional seat in the
predominantly Catholic Philippines.




Source:
https://www.nst.com.my/world/2018/02/335895/first-transgender-officer-joins-philippine-army-reserves



myndd44

Soon, people will start marrying ex-men and ex-women without knowing.