Filipino gets asylum in US for being gay

MANILA, Philippines - Philip Belarmino said he was persecuted in the Philippines for being gay – which a US court accepted as a good enough reason to grant him asylum. The San Francisco Sentinel on Wednesday reported that it was Immigration Judge Loreto Geisse who granted asylum to Belarmino, a 43-year-old gay man. In 2005, Belarmino decided to go to the United States on a visitor’s visa despite teaching for 17 years in the country. He left the Philippines, he said, because of the many unpleasant events that he experienced just because he was gay. The Filipino teacher reportedly told the US court that he was forced to engage in anal and oral sex with older men when he was nine, 11, and 16 years old. He said he never told his parents of the incidents because he was afraid of being found out as gay – a fact which he said would have traumatized the couple. Belarmino also said that he never came to the police, fearing more persecution because of his sexuality. He said he was afraid that they would either extort money from him or use him for their sexual exploits. But applications for asylum based on gender are usually impossible to win. “Everyone including other lawyers said that it was impossible to win my case," said Belrmino. He was, however, represented by Ted Laguatan – an experienced human rights lawyer and certified expert on US Immigration Law who has won major cases against government and several private corporations. “I almost gave up but Atty. Laguatan told me to hang in there and that what was involved here was very important – that we were fighting for human rights and that no human being should be persecuted on account of gender or race or nationality. I also owe it to Judge Geisse who was very fair and sensitive," he said. And with Laguatan’s help, the court was therefore convinced that the Filipino teacher did in fact face persecution in the Philippines because of the alleged rape and harassment that he experienced all because of his sexual orientation. “I am at a loss for words as to what to say," said Belarmino. The lawyer, for his part, then said that this is “a major development in the struggle for human rights." “Persecuting gay people is no different from persecuting people simply because they are of a different color or nationality. This decision provides encouragement and hope to gay communities in their struggle to end discrimination and harassment against them," he said. The government reportedly has 30 days to appeal the decision. If it does not, the decision becomes final. - Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV