President Rodrigo Duterte supports gender equality but is not in favor of either church or civil marriage among same-sex couples, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“While the President Duterte supports the passage of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill, which seeks to protect members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community from discrimination, he will let lawmakers to iron out details of the bill,” Roque said.
The SOGIE bill is currently being tackled by a House panel.
“It is very clear, the stand of the President. He believes that and has expressed his full support to the LGBTQ community,” he said.
However, Roque appealed to the public to let congress decide the final version of the SOGIE bill.
“Duterte supports the gender equality but but not in favor of same sex marriage be it church or civil,” he added.
Roque’s latest pronouncements, however, contradicted the statements he himself made before on the issue.
In December 2017, Duterte said in a speech that he was in favor of changing the law to allow same-sex marriage in the Philippines.
Roque explained then the President was only referring to same-sex civil union.
Under Philippine laws, marriage is still between a man and a woman and only an act of Congress can change this.
