Malacañang: Duterte says no to same-sex marriage, yes to civil union

FILE: While Roque said that Duterte is now against same-sex marriage, through the years, the President has been changing his views on the subject. (RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

The President may not be in favor of same-sex marriage, but the Palace clarified that he nodded to a same-sex civil union.

“Kung same-sex marriage, pati si Presidente tutol. Pero ang union, pabor d’yan si Presidente para maayos ang iba’t ibang aspeto ng pagsasama ng magkaparehong kasarinlan (If it is about same-sex marriage, even the President is against it. But if it is about a same-sex union, the President is in favor to fix the different aspects of same-sex union),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. said in a press briefing on Monday, July 2 in Maasin City, Southern Leyte.

This was the Palace’s reaction to the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealing that 61 percent of Filipino adults would oppose a law crafted to allow a civil union of two men or two women.

Sponsored by the ally of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in the lower chamber House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a bill allowing same-sex civil union is being created, with the first transwoman lawmaker Bataan Representative Geraldine Roman among its proponents.

According to Roman, the term “civil union” is used instead of “marriage” to avoid religious connotations that may ire conservative and religious groups.

While Roque said that Duterte is now against same-sex marriage, through the years, the President has been changing his views on the subject.

In an interview with Vice Ganda back in 2015, the mayor-turned-President was asked about his view on same-sex marriage, to which he answered with, “it’s good… everyone deserves to be happy.”

In March 2017, however, Duterte retracted his words, reacting to Time magazine’s article about the difference of “he” and “she.”

“’Yun ang kultura nila. Eh ‘di kayo lang, hindi ‘yan pwede sa amin. Katoliko kami at (That is their culture. That cannot be applied to us. We are Catholics and) there is the Civil Code, which says that you can only marry a woman for me. For a woman to marry a man,” he said.

Before 2017 ended though, he once again aired his support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community.

“You know, kung ano ‘yung kaligahayahan ng tao, bakit mo pigilan (why do you have to block something that makes the people happy)? Why impose a morality that is no longer working? So I am with you,” he said on December 17.