Duterte supports same-sex marriage anew

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (Photo by RICHARD MADELO via PCOO)

The President’s stand on same-sex marriage has returned to a full support just like in 2015, after expressing his disapproval eight months ago.

“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 told the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community during their gathering in Davao on Sunday.

Saying that this is the ‘trend of the modern times’ and it is what adds to the ‘happiness’ of the people, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte confirmed that he supports it.

“I want same-sex marriage. The problem is we’ll have to change the law. But we can change the law,” he added.

In 2015, when Duterte was still the mayor of Davao, he has stated his support for same-sex marriage in a guesting on Gandang Gabi Vice (GGV).

GGV’s host, Vice Ganda, who is a proud member of the LGBT community, asked the mayor-turned-President of his stand on one of the rainbow community’s hottest topics.

“[Same-sex marriage,] it’s good… everyone deserves to be happy,” he said then, continuing that, “Kahit sa mga dormitory noon, ayoko talaga ‘yung mga bakla niloloko (Even in the dormitories then, I did not like to see homosexuals being bullied). I was the first to give a statement sa (in) Davao when Ladlad [party list] was denied registration,” Duterte further said.

Vice Ganda also asked what he would do if his son were homosexual, with Duterte replying that he would accept him for who he is and “everyone should respect human dignity as all humans are created by God.”

However, in March this year, Duterte retracted his words in a meeting with a Filipino community in Myanmar. He cited an issue of the Time magazine that talked about the dimming difference and distinction of ‘he’ from ‘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.

In the gathering on Sunday, Duterte has also asked the LGBT community to nominate a representative that can join the urban poor commission he will reform, after he fired all its officials for allegedly making ‘unnecessary junkets.’