Lawmaker: No same-sex unions under anti-discrimination bill

Thursday, December 8, 2011

MANILA (Updated) -- A bill that will penalize ethnic and religious discrimination will not lead to same-sex marriages, a senator elected to the bicameral conference committee working on the bill said Thursday.

"Definitely, this does not encourage same-sex marriages," Senator Gregorio Honasan II told Sun.Star.

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Honasan made these remarks after the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) raised concerns that the supposed inclusion of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) community in the coverage of the anti-discrimination bill "[opens] the door for same-sex marriages, which our country doesn’t allow."

Ronald Reyes, a CBCP lawyer, said the group of Church leaders supported the bill until discrimination based on "sex, gender, sexual orientation, (and) gender identity" was included.

Versions of the bill passed by the Senate and House on third and final reading do not carry this provision and Honasan did not confirm that such an amendment has been proposed.

He said the bicameral conference is still in the preliminary stage and that debates on disagreeing provisions on the bill have yet to start.

"That will still be subject to a lot of debate, especially on the grounds of public interest," the senator said, saying concerns raised by the CBCP will also be considered.

Jo Imbong, another CBCP lawyer, said the bill might be used to force the Catholic Church to perform same-sex marriages. But Honasan said it is "too premature to make an intelligent conclusion" that passage of the bill will lead to that.

For that to proceed, the Family Code must be amended to allow same-sex marriages. Under the law, no marriage can be considered valid without the "legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female." The same law also specifies that "marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman."

No proposal to amend the Family Code is contained in either version of the anti-discrimination bill. Article VI, Section 26 of the 1987 Constitution requires that "every bill passed by the Congress shall embrace only one subject, which shall be expressed in the title thereof."

Honasan said the bill will have to conform with existing laws.

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, also a member of the bicameral committee, declined to comment, saying he still has to study the measure.

Senator Loren Legarda, sponsor of the bill, earlier said the bill was meant to "avoid unnecessary prejudice and other forms of intolerance and give equal opportunity to each individual."

The bill prohibits discrimination in employment, delivery of goods and services, and in portrayal in media. It bans, for example, the use of religious characterization such as words of religious importance in print and broadcast media when geographical, political, socio-economic, or other distinction might be more accurate.

"We seek to promote a society that values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights regardless of a person’s social status, personal preference, beliefs and affiliation," Legarda said.

Legarda said she hoped to get the bill passed into law before Christmas but Honasan said it is unlikely since it will require lengthy discussions and is not considered a priority measure.

Sun.Star tried to reach Legarda for comment but did not get a response from her.

Meanwhile, CBCP's stand did not escape the ire of the Filipino Freethinkers, a secularist group that it has butted heads with in the past over the Reproductive Health bill and allegations that the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office gave some bishops money for "luxury vehicles."

In an email, Beatriz Torre, LGBT advocacy director for the Freethinkers, said the group "strongly denounces" the CBCP's stand and its attempt "to influence the legislative process, which should be secular, with their group’s religious doctrine."

"The available evidence tells us that the LGBT community is one of those groups. LGBT Filipinos have been denied job opportunities, education, healthcare, and other basic rights, on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity. This is precisely the kind of unfairness that the anti-discrimination bill seeks to prevent," she said.

She added discrimination and gay marriage are different issues. She said CBCP should reserve its opposition for same-sex unions for "legislation that proposes it, if and when it comes about."

She added legislators should not allow themselves to be bullied into denying LGBTs their rights.

"Denying LGBT Filipinos full access to their rights is harmful to LGBT individuals, it is harmful to their families, and it is harmful to Filipino society," Torre said. (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)