Lacson-Sotto admin willing to appoint LGBT+ member in Cabinet, Tito says

A member of the LGBT+ community is welcome to join the Cabinet of presidential candidate Panfilo Lacson and vice presidential candidate Vicente Sotto III.

This was declared by Sotto during the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) PILIpinas forum on Wednesday.

“Of course. I have many LGBT friends, as a matter of fact, I have many LGBT supporters. Kahapon pa lang [Just yesterday], I received an endorsement from a big group of an LGBT group and then you can ask the LGBTs not only in Metro Manila, but also in Iloilo and Bacolod. I have groups there from the LGBT class that are supporting my candidacy,” Sotto said when asked if they are willing to appoint a member of the community.

“Of course, sa Eat Bulaga pa lang e ang dami naming LGBT+ don puro kaibigan ko lahat yon. They are very supportive,” he added, pertaining to the noontime show where he is one of the hosts.

Sotto said he is also willing to push for the an anti-discrimination bill that “addresses” the concerns of the LGBT+ community, but not the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill previously filed in the Senate, citing violations of freedom of religion and academic freedom.

“I have no problem with the LGBT plus community. I am willing to approve the Anti-Discrimination Bill if it addresses them. But the problem with the SOGIE bill that was filed in the Senate. It violates the freedom of religion and academic freedom,” he said.

“‘Yun ang pinagdedebatehan namin and then of course, there are others who were saying it was class legislation. Alisin ninyo ang freedom of religion na nakakasama. Alisin ‘yung provision na tatamaan ang academic freedom. Leave freedom of religion alone, leave academic freedom alone and answer the issue of class legislation, I will vote for the SOGIE bill,” he said.

On the other hand, Sotto expressed confidence that the next president would approve the Sim Card Registration Bill which was earlier vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

He is assured that there will be refiling of the said measure in the next Congress sans the provision that was questioned by Duterte, particularly the inclusion of registration of social media accounts in the measure.

In combating fake news, Sotto raised the need to strengthen the government networks as well as the revival of the Office of the Press Secretary.

"Doon sa issue ng fake news, kailangan palakasin nating ang government networks natin. Sila ang pinagkukunan ng impormasyon, ibalik natin ang office of the Press Secretary para sila ang dapat mag-overhaul niyan e,” he said.

Party-list law

Further, Sotto reiterated the need to align the Party-List Law with the Constitution, saying the measure has been abused through the years due to different interpretations of the Comelec and the Supreme Court.

He maintained that the marginalized sectors should be limited to the laborers, peasants, urban poor, indigenous peoples, women, youth, and senior citizens.

"Through the years, the party-list system has been abused e. So dapat ito ilagay lang sa tama. Hindi nating sinsabing alisin. Ilagay lang don sa naayon sa Konstitusyon [This has to be corrected. We are not saying that it should be abolished, but aligned it with the Constitution],” he said.

On the other hand, Sotto questioned the latest pre-election surveys, citing an analysis published by one of the opinion writers of a news site.

“‘Wag tayo maniwala sa survey maniwala tayo kung sino ang karapat-dapat na ilagay natin [Dont'  believe in surveys. We should believe on who should be elected],” he said.

Ending his interview, Sotto told the voters to assess if their candidates are “true leaders.”

"Why don’t you ask your candidates if they are true leaders at nasaan sila noong pandemic [where were they during the pandemic],” Sotto said.

“Pare-pareho na lang kami ng platform. ‘Yung programa nga namin ginagaya ng iba e. Pero ang tanong na lang namin, sino naninindigan sa inyo? Sino ang gumigitna sa panganib kung tagilid? ‘Yon ang kailangan nating true leaders e,” he added.

[We all have the same platforms. Our program is even being copied by others. Our question is, who among you can be relied upon? Who among you are willing to take the risk? That's what we need, true leaders.] 

Sotto reiterated that he will not use the Office of the Vice President as a training ground, citing his track record.

“With my background, the record that I have, I think I will be able to serve the country well. Let my records speak for myself,” he ended. — RSJ, GMA News