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Chances Congress will legalize same-sex marriage: ‘Slim and none’


Congress isn’t keen on passing a law legalizing same-sex unions despite the growing acceptance for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) in the Philippines.
 
No less than House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. himself thumbed down the idea of legalizing same-sex marriages, which are now deemed legal in the United States.
 
“Definitely I’m against [it],” he said in a text message Sunday.
 
Belmonte’s opposition was shared by male colleagues in the House, who noted that the chances of a bill on same-sex unions being passed is next to none considering that even the proposal to legalize divorce has been met with stiff opposition by the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
 
“If the proposal to legalize divorce, which has been legal in the US for ages, has yet to hurdle the committee level, how could [a bill to legalize] same-sex marriage have any hope in our country today?” asked Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas.
 
The lawmaker has opposed the passage of House Bill 4408, which seeks to legalize divorce, because it supposedly violates the Constitutional provision on the State’s duty to protect the family.
 
Proposals won't prosper
 
Echoing Fariñas’ view, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said no move to legalize same-sex marriage in the country will prosper in Congress.
 
“There’s no hope for that (legalizing same-sex unions). If we don’t have any divorce law, how do you think a law on same-sex marriages is going to pass?” he asked.
 
Aside from his colleagues’ opposition, 1-BAP Rep. Silvestre Bello, a former Justice secretary, said Filipinos’ conservative culture is a deterrent to the legalization of same-sex unions.
 
“Knowing the Filipino culture and the influential Catholic Church’s position on the matter, same sex marriage in our country has only two chances: slim and none,” he said.
 
On Saturday, Malacañang said it is leaving it up to Congress to discuss the issue of legalizing same-sex marriages. There is currently no bill pending in Congress which seeks to recognize such unions.
 
The following day, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Philippines will not recognize the union of same-sex couples wed in the United States and foreign countries where gay marriage is legal.

Under the Family Code of the Philippines, "marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life."
 
Wider acceptance
 
In a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court last week ruled that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states. The decision has received an overwhelmingly positive response in the US, and in different countries.
 
While chances of legalizing same-sex marriages in the Philippines remain slim, Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan, an author of the divorce bill, is optimistic that the landmark US Supreme Court ruling will pave the way for Filipinos — including her colleagues — to slowly warm up to the idea of passing related legislation.
 
“Here in the Philippines, there are countless members of the LGBT community who are in a relationship though they can’t have benefit of marriage. Hopefully, the decision of the US Supreme Court will help Filipinos gain wider acceptance of the changes happening in society,” she said.
 
Last May,a young lawyer asked the Supreme Court to allow same-sex unions but magistrates have yet to decide on the matter. — JDS, GMA News

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