AIZA SEGUERRA AT LIZA DINO
NAGPALIT na ng pangalan ang singer at National Youth Commission chairperson na si Aiza Seguerra, Ice Seguerra na siya ngayon.
Matagal na raw nilang pinag-uusapan ng misis niya at FDCP head na si Liza Dino ang tungkol sa pagpapalit niya ng pangalan pero never daw siyang nagkaroon ng courage na gawin ‘yun.
Bata pa lang siya ay kilala na siya sa buong Pilipinas bilang si Aiza, “Pero kasi, the more na tumatagal, the more you become true to yourself. Parang, nagkakaroon ng maraming frustrations and resentments, ganoon,” esplika ni Ice.
Deep inside “him” daw kasi ‘di na niya feel kapag tinatawag siyang Aiza much more kapag ina-address siya bilang babae.
“Even as simple as, ‘yun nga, ‘he,’ ‘him,’ ganyan. Before akala ko I wouldn’t mind kapag tinatawag akong ‘she.’ Pero alam mo ‘yun? The more na tumatagal ka, the more that you are getting comfortable with ako, being more comfortable being myself, being transman, parang the more that you hear na you are being referred to as a female, you know, it’s get to you,” paliwanag ni Ice.
Unfortunately, hindi pa siya nakikipag-usap sa isang abogado to consult kung pwede rin niyang palitan ang name niya legally.
“I mean, in countries like the US, they can do that already. Pero I think kapag ganoon, you kinda have to undergo transition and all of these things. I’m not there yet. Ako lang, ‘yung sa documents, it’s a step by step thing. Ngayon, happy na ako. Ang sarap when people call me Ice,” sabi pa niya.
Deadma na rin siya kung ano ang iisipin ng mga tao sa pagpalit niya ng kanyang pangalan.
“Well, since I came out naman like, alam mo ang coming out naman kasi for me it’s always a process. And I believe that you can come out everyday because the concept of transgender, even though it’s been around for quite a long time, it’s fairly new to the Philippines.
“Ako rin, for the longest time all the while I thought I was lesbian because I don’t know kung ano ang transgender,” lahad niya.
Sa pagbabasa at pagsasaliksik nalaman niya na hindi raw siya lesbian kundi isang transman.
“Actually me and my wife, we made our goal to always assert not be defensive kasi, of course since it’s new, a lot of people, ‘Oh, bakit Miss? Bakit Sir, e, hello, Miss ka?’
“Alam mo it’s easy to be very offended pero wala, e. If puro offended ang iispin natin you won’t be able to start and you won’t be able to educate also people, give them the right information,” lahad pa ni Ice.
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Last year ang ika-30th year ni Ice Seguerra sa showbiz. Pero hindi niya ito naipagdiwang dahil sa kabisihan niya bilang NYC chairperson.
“I want to make up for that. Pwede pa naman. Siguro kapag natapos na ang term ko (sa government), maybe I could start doing films again, do TV show. Siguro pagkatapos na, three years naman ‘to, e. Pero pwede ka pa ulit ire-appoint for another three years and that’s it,” ang sabi sa amin ni Ice.
Hindi na raw muna siya tatanggap ng government post after his first term sa NYC. Sa ngayon, almost two years na si Ice as NYC head.
“Okey na ako. Solved na ako,” natatawang sabi ni ni Ice. “Well, of course, I have a family also. Siyempre, kailangan ko ring alagaan ang pamilya ko. Ang Mommy ko, matanda na. And of course, we have a daughter, si Amara. She’s nine now.”
Gusto na raw ni Amara na magkaroon ng kapatid, “Pinag-uusapan na namin ‘yan. If we can’t do IVF (In Vitro Fertilization), then we might adopt. Nu’ng una gusto niya babae rin. Pero ngayon sinasabi niya, babae o lalaki, basta gusto ko ng kapatid.”
Samantala, nabalita na na-meet niya ang leader ng Communist Party of the Philippines na si Joma Sison. Nagkita sila ni Joma during the peace talks na ginanap sa Norway.
“As the National Youth Commission chairperson I wanted to see the whole proceedings. So, ayun, I just observed. Ang daming government people doon kasi peace talks ‘yun and I was invited, ng OPAPP (Office of the Presidential Advisers on the Peace Process),” aniya.
Para kay Ice, simpleng tao lang daw kung titingnan si Joma. Hindi raw sila nagkausap pero nakapagpa-piktyur siya.
Tinanong namin siya kung agree ba siya sa idelohiya ni Joma, “Naniniwala ako that we don’t have to resort to violence, to push for the things that we want to happen. Naniniwala ako na kailangan talaga natin na magsama-sama. ‘Yun ang panininiwala ko.”