There has been a turn of tide as President Rodrigo Duterte is now expressing full support for same sex marriage, an issue he vocally opposed to earlier this year.
Last March, Duterte said he has nothing against homosexuals but stressed that he cannot allow union between people of the same sex in the Philippines because this would go against the laws of a Catholic country.
But now, the president said he is in favor of it as it will make the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community happy.
“I am for [same] sex marriage. If that will add to your happiness, I am for it. Who am I [to hinder]?” Duterte said in his speech during the 7th LGBT Year-End Gathering in Davao City Sunday night.
“If that will give happiness to the people, why would I stop it? Why impose a morality that is almost passé?” he added.
Duterte also guaranteed the LGBT community that under his term, they will not be oppressed and they will receive recognition of their importance in the society.
He said that he would like to appoint an honest and hardworking member of the community to the Philippine Commission on the Urban Poor (PCUP).
Duterte said this is his way of showing that “any gay or tomboy can always work just like an ordinary human being.”
(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 12/ 18 / 17)