In Pandacaqui, where the sanction was meted out by no less than the barangay captain and other barangay officials, it happened only last year. It was public humiliation, public shaming, and shameful exposure, a form of judicially sanctioned punishment for an offender, usually a prisoner-but in previous centuries. The video, in which the three were identified by name, went viral. As punishment, aside from overnight detention, the three LGBTQIAP+ people were ordered to do push-ups, kiss, and do a sexy dance on live video broadcast on social media. In a global emergency, such as a pandemic, enforcing public health measures, such as the government’s strict stay-at-home policies, becomes the top priority, and everything else, including civil liberties and due process, is subject to broad discretions and also abuse.
Despite protestations, with two of them explaining they were running an errand for their grandmother, the three were detained on suspicion that they were looking for illicit sex. In April 2020, as the Philippine government placed the entire country under Enhanced Community Quarantine, barangay volunteers in Pandacaqui, a small village in Mexico Pampanga, accosted three LGBTQIAP+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, and Pansexual) people for violating curfew. ON THE COVER Clockwise from left: Paul Cardenas, Rhadem Musawah, Mela Habijan, Francis Libiran, Malu Marin, Naomi Fantanos, Ben Bernabe, Bam Terol, IC Mendoza, Akiro Orteza, and Loreen Loreen Ordoño (center, bluegreen background).