Father Saturnino Urios University

College of Law
Butuan City

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
IN THE PHILIPPINES
An Essay by
Alvin U. Pateres

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in

Legal Research
under the supervision of
Judge Anthony Vitor

2015

The love and commitment of individual couples has always had a

rather uneasy relationship to marriage as an institution. While married
couples are typically expected to get married in large part on the basis
of a love for and a willing commitment to each other, the institution of
marriage exists not to affirm this love and willing commitment as such,
but to create something more certain and lasting beyond that.
Marriage typically places considerable restrictions upon love. It places
limitations and pressures upon our choices of suitable partners. It
denies us the right to have sexual relationships with persons we might
love outside of marriage bonds.1
It is obvious from the varying definitions of marriage that this
topic carries with it a large amount of controversy. Those who support
same-sex marriage often argue that love is grounds enough for
marriage, regardless of sexual orientation. Those who are opposed
often cite religious viewpoints and concerns about the rearing of
children as the main reasons for their opposition. The conflict over
same-sex marriage is not a simple one. It involves many legislative,
cultural, religious and family issues.
From a legal standpoint, those on the opposing side of the gay
marriage debate often believe that the rights of marriage should be
restricted to couples who are of the opposite sex. Those who are for it
believe that marriage is a civil right and should not have restrictions to
those of a particular sexual orientation.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in
the Philippines have a distinctive culture but limited legal rights. Gays
and lesbians are generally tolerated, if not accepted, within Filipino
society, but there is still widespread discrimination. The most visible
members of the Filipino LGBT culture, the Bakla, are a distinct group in
the Philippines.2

1 https://alastairadversaria.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/the-same-sex-marriage
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_culture_in_the_Philippines

Although the Philippines has signed and ratified most of the core
human rights instruments, including the ICCPR, ICECSR, CEDAW, CRC,
CRPD, CERD and other human rights treaties, Philippine society and
culture maintain much prejudice towards the LGBT community, and
lacks basic sensitivity and recognition of the LGBT rights. Although a
number of laws mention sexual orientation or address same-sex
relations, such as The Magna Carta on Women 3, oftentimes the
references have negative impact on the human rights of LGBTs.
According to the Constitution4, the State guarantees full respect for
human rights and every person has the right to equal protection of the
laws, but sexual orientation and gender identity are not explicitly
mentioned. The Revised Penal Code of the Philippines, as well as other
criminal laws, does not have provisions punishing hate crimes. The
Philippines has no comprehensive anti-discrimination law. Only one city
has a local ordinance limited to workplace discrimination based on
sexual orientation and gender identity. There are specific antidiscrimination provisions in the PNP Code and the Magna Carta of
Social Workers5. Draft bills that protect sexual orientation and gender
identity have been filed in the Philippine Congress and are in different
committees. A number of government agencies have administrative
rules or policies that protect sexual orientation, and alternately, other
agencies have expressed policies that are discriminatory to their
employees or clients.
According to the Philippine LGBT Hate Crime Watch research 6 on
violence against the LGBT population in the Philippines, around 141
deaths of LGBTs with varying elements of motives of hate or bias,
extrajudicial killing, and/or discrimination-related violence related to
sexual orientation and gender identity have been documented in
media mass media reports and oral testimonies since 1996.

3 http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ru8/GAD/Magna_Carta_of_Women.pdf
4 Article 2, Section 11 and Article 3, Section 1, Philippine Constitution
5 5 Section 17, http://laws.chanrobles.com/ph/ra/republicactno9433.html &
http://www.dswd.gov.ph/phocadownload/irr/irrra9433final.pdf

6 http://www. http://thephilippinelgbthatecrimewatch.blogspot.com/

The judiciary has made several favorable and unfavorable

precedents in the legal treatment of LGBTs and intersexed persons. The
Supreme Court ruled against a ministerial decision of the Commission
on Elections that denied accreditation from Ladlad, an LGBT party list,
to run as a political party. The Supreme Court also rendered a
decision.7
Although

legislation

supporting

same-sex

marriage

in

the

Philippines has been proposed several times to the Philippine

legislature, none has ever been passed.8
The COMELEC disqualified the Filipino LGBT political party Ang
Ladlad from running in the 2007 general election when COMELEC
concluded that Ang Ladlad did not have nationwide membership. 9
COMELEC again refused Ang Ladlad's petition for permission to run in
the 2010 elections, this time on grounds of "immorality". 10 However, on
8 April 2010 the Supreme Court of the Philippines overturned the
decision of COMELEC and allowed Ang Ladlad to participate in the May
2010 elections.11
When

homosexual

individuals

are denied

equal

rights

of

marriage as heterosexual individuals, they are given a choice between

their identity and their desires for family and companionship, as well as
legal benefits. The moment when a homosexual individual, more often
than not a vulnerable and confused teenager, realizes his/her sexuality
is a fragile one. They are split between a choice, come to terms with
their sexuality, a part of their identity, and follow the 'gay lifestyle.' Or
deny it, and continue living a facade as a heterosexual man/woman.
The sad truth is, many people choose the second, to the harm of
7 Silverio vs. Republic of the Philippines,
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2007/oct2007/gr_174689_2007.html that denied the rights
of transgenders to self-determination and legal changes of identity.

8 LeiLani Dowell (17 February 2005). "New Peoples Army recognizes same-sex marriage".
Workers World Party.

9 Aning, Jerome (1 March 2007). "Gay party-list group Ladlad out of the race". Philippine Daily
Inquirer.

10 "CHR backs Ang Ladlad in Comelec row". ABS-CBN News. 15 November 2009.
11 "SC allows Ang Ladlad to join May poll". ABS-CBN News.

themselves, their future spouses, their children and all those who care
about their happiness.
The question is, why? Why do these people choose to deny their
homosexual desires? Because the society puts too high a price on
coming out of the closet. You faced by ridicule and stigma amongst
your peers, which while shameful, is still something people can endure.
The higher price you pay is being forced to give up your dreams of a
family.
On a June 2013 article of Philippine Daily Inquirer, they stated
that Despite its religiosity, the Philippines is one of the countries in
the world where the level of public acceptance of homosexuals is
high, according to the results of the survey. The survey titled The
Global Divide on Homosexuality conducted by the US-based Pew
Research Center showed that 73 percent of adult Filipinos agreed with
the statement that homosexuality should be accepted by society, up
by nine percentage points from 2002. The percentage of Filipinos who
said society should not accept gays fell from 33 percent in 2002 to 26
percent this year. They further added that, The Philippines is said to
be one of the most religious countries in the world and almost a third
of its population lives below the poverty line. In the surveys religiosity
scale where a score of 3 was the most religious, the Philippines
almost got 2.5. Age is also a factor in several countries, with younger
respondents offering far more tolerant views than older ones, the
survey report said. And while gender differences are not prevalent, in
those countries where they are, women are consistently more
accepting of homosexuality than men, it added. In the Philippines, 78
percent of those aged 18-29 who were interviewed said gays should be
accepted, 71 percent for those aged 30-49, and 68 percent for those
50 years old and above, according to the survey. The report also
showed that of the eight countries surveyed in the Asia-Pacific region,
the Philippines had the second highest acceptance rate next to
Australias 79 percent. However, Filipino gay groups were not
impressed by the survey results. When asked if the gay community in
the Philippines felt accepted, Jonas Bagas, executive director of the TLF
Share Collective, said: Hardly. He added, I think that the study only
reflects the perceived acceptance of the LGBT community based on

the high visibility of gay entertainers. Its acceptance [that is]

contingent on how you fit the acceptable stereotypethe gay
entertainer, the creative, talented bakla, the lesbian security guard,
Bagas said. Once you go outside these stereotypes, thats when you
encounter rejection, he added. Bagas said a Filipino student in a
lesbian relationship faces higher probability of getting kicked out of her
school than a student in a heterosexual relationship. We still have
strong biases against gay sex, which for many is still deemed immoral
and unnatural. This attitude fosters inequality in our laws, in education,
healthcare and even within the family, Bagas said. The Pew report
said those who conducted the survey had face-to-face interviews with
804 Filipinos aged 18 and above from March 10 to April 3 this year. The
interviews were conducted in Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano and
Bicolano.12
At present, the Congress isnt keen on passing a law legalizing
same-sex unions despite the growing acceptance for lesbians, gays,
bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT) in the Philippines.13

IN APPROVAL OF THE IDEA OF ALLOWING GAY MARRIAGE IN THE

PHILIPPINES
The Inquirer quoted Agabin as saying, The Family Codes
concept of marriage as a contract between a man and a woman aside
from being obsolete, violates the equal protection clause of the
Constitution. He added, In my opinion to bar the lesbians, the gays,
the transsexuals and homosexuals from the civil right to marry would
violate the guarantee of equal protection... it also intrudes into the
right to privacy which is a fundamental right.14
Unlike in the US, where a decision from the US Supreme Court
legalized same-sex marriage in all fifty states, laws will have to be
12 http://globalnation.inquirer.net/76977/ph-ranks-among-most-gay-friendly-in-the-world
13 http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/512106/news/nation/chances-congress-willlegalize-same-sex-marriage-slim-and-none

14 http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/philippines-law-experts-denying-gay-marriageunconstitutional091014/

changed and public consultations will have to be held in Congress for

same-sex marriage to legalized in the Philippines, according to Atty
Lorna Kapunan.15
Jonas Bagas stated, it means that LGBTs must reframe the
debate on homosexuality along secular and non-religious terms. While I
understand why Catholic LGBTs want to carve a more tolerant space
within the Catholic faith, the more strategic battleground is in the
Constitution, not the Bible. Same-sex marriage is understandably a
sensitive religious issue, but it is above all about our sectarian values about basic fairness and our constitutional rights, about human dignity
regardless of the sex of the people we love. For many years, LGBT
activists have skirted the issue of same-sex partnerships and gay
marriage as a non-priority, relegating it under more crucial issues, like
discrimination in schools and the workplace. This sends the wrong
signal - that same-sex partnerships are secondary and unimportant,
when ironically the root of discrimination against LGBTs is the rejection
of same-sex partnerships, both the sexual and romantic sides of it. I
think it is a wrong framing of the problem, and it grants the Catholic
hierarchy a degree of influence that doesnt exist. The Church has no
control over public opinion, as proven by the continuing popularity of
the RH Bill despite the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines's
opposition to it and by the failure of the Catholic Church to mobilize the
so-called "Catholic vote." He believes that What we perceive to be the
Churchs political influence in fact indicates a fundamental weakness in
our political institutions, a democratic flaw that makes our system
beholden to interest groups like the Catholic taliban. The Church is
powerful; the problem is that the state is weak. Legal recognition of
same-sex partnerships, whether through marriage or civil unions,
would not happen by engaging or reforming the Catholic hierarchy. It is
after all the business of the Church hierarchy to be dogmatic, and we
should

just

let

it

collapse

under

the

weight

of

its

internal

contradictions.16

15 http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/511498/news/nation/phl-laws-need-revision-toallow-same-sex-marriage-atty-kapunan

16 http://www.rappler.com/thought-leaders/5223-same-sex-marriage-in-the-philippines

Plea for legalization of gay marriage in the Philippines can also

be grounded on the basis of the right to equality and nondiscrimination. The State guarantees full respect for human rights and
every person has the right to equal protection of the laws, but sexual
orientation and gender identity are not explicitly mentioned. The
Philippines still lacks an anti-discrimination Law. There are pending bills
in Congress that defines discrimination as a crime and recommends
penalties.17
The Labor Code of the Philippines 18 has no prohibition of both
direct and indirect discrimination except as to gender discrimination
against women, and neither sexual orientation nor gender identity is
mentioned. The Commission on Civil Service has rules that include
sexual orientation as a status that can be factored in sexual
harassment cases. The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology has a
standing policy barring its lesbian and gay employees from making
body searches of jail visitors of the same genital sex.19
There is no law to address the procedure of changing ones sex in
legal documents. The courts have partially addressed the rights of
intersexed

persons

to choose

ones

sex and to

correct

legal

documents.20 However, conflicting decisions regarding legal cases filed

by transgenders have made it very difficult for them to assume their
preferred identity, gravely affecting their everyday lives. The effects
include compromised access to public services and difficulties with
family issues, travel, immigration, health care, livelihood, and the right
to marry.21 Transgenders trying to access legal processes to reconcile
their birth records and access legal marriage have been denied by the
Supreme Court. The denial hinged on the absence of a law to address
their specific need for change in legal documents. Complainants have
17 http://www.congress.gov.ph/press/details.php?pressid=4694
18 http://www.bcphilippineslawyers.com/the-labor-code-of-the-philippines-book-3/
19 http://www.starobserver.com.au/news/2011/07/25/philippines-gay-prison-guards-cantsearch/57623

20 http://www.chanrobles.com/scdecisions/jurisprudence2008/september2008/166676.php
21 Page 183 , http://www.icj.org/dwn/ database/Sexual%20Orientation,%20Gender%20Identity
%20and%20Justice- %20A%20Comparative%20Law%20Casebook[1].pdf

filed with the UN in 2010 complaints of violations to the Optional

Protocol of the ICCPR regarding these matters.22
The head of state President Benigno Aquino III in September
2011 said he was neutral to having same-sex partnerships legalized
but opposed adoption of children by same-sex couples in the
Philippines. The agency overseeing adoptions, the Department of
Social Welfare and Development, allows adoption by single LGBTs but
not for two persons of the same sex who identify as a domestic
couple.23
To not legalize same-sex marriage is to further perpetuate the
problem of minority discrimination that has stained human history.
Both of our countries share examples of governments institutionalizing
hate and discrimination by enacting laws and decrees upon its minority
citizens in various forms that aim to limit and instill inferiority in
citizens of minority groups such as Jim and Jane Crow laws and the
apartheid. Once this feeling of inferiority enters the psychology of
minorities, a lack of self-worth leads to less economic and social
prosperity as well as a denial of one's own identity as they are
barraged with the message that they are lesser 24 Opponents to samesex marriage often point to similar institutions, such as civil unions or
domestic partnerships, and claim that those should be satisfactory for
same-sex couples who wish to receive some rights from the state when
entering a marriage-like relationship. However, civil unions and
domestic partnerships rarely have rights on par with marriage, and
reinforce that same-sex couples are second class citizens. Civil unions
are "neither universally recognized nor understood" 25

In many

countries, certain rights are tied to the recognition of marriage. Often,

same-sex couples cannot sponsor foreign spouses for green cards. 26
In the U.S., they lose the tax benefit of marriage as a status when
22 http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mZK6cN316j
23 http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/09/22/11/gays-ask-pnoy-push-anti-discrimination-bill
24 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws
25 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/opinion/7thu3.html?pagewanted=print
26 http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-04-15/gay-lovers-in-exile0

filing taxes and losing significant amounts of money each year, in

effect being fined for having a same-sex partner rather than engaging
in heterosexual marriage.27 By denying LGBT couples the right to
marry, the stigma of the unfaithful gay person is reinforced in a vicious
cycle: "Gays can't marry because they always fool around, and
because they always fool around, they shouldn't need marriage." This
is despite much evidence (and common sense) to the contrary. 2829
Much of the fervor against same-sex marriage relates to same-sex
adoption. Stereotypes of gay people as influencing youth or recruiting
them towards a gay lifestyle have long been part of the propaganda of
the anti-gay movement.30 Marriage will ensure adoption rights for
same-sex couples, and the myths will be debunked as the practice
becomes more common. An excellent example is that of homosexuals
serving in the military; where it was thought that homosexuals would
not make good soldiers, today they serve with distinction in dozens of
militaries across the world.
The concept of "traditional marriage" has changed over time,
and the definition of marriage as always being between one man and
one woman is historically inaccurate.31
IN OPPOSITION TO THE IDEA OF ALLOWING GAY MARRIAGE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
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."32

27 http://www.tressugar.com/2882164
28 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/27/MNG1H59R5Q1.DTL
29 Garnets, Linda D.; Douglas C. Kimmel (1993). Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and
Gay Male Experiences. Columbia University Press

30 http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/nov/12/gay-adoption
31 http://gaymarriage.procon.org/
32 Art. 1, Family Code

Passages in the Old Testament that prohibit man "lie with

mankind as with womankind"33 Christians who take a conservative
position on homosexuality endorse this reading of these passages in
the belief that God is against same-sex sexual activity.34
As I have already remarked, many opponents of same-sex
marriage believe that it is an impossible entity, so it should not
surprise us that Jesus never spoke about it, just as he never spoke
against women being fathers. Nevertheless, Jesus teaching does
clearly stand against same-sex marriage. Jesus grounds the institution
of marriage firmly in the created reality of sexual dimorphism:
And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He
who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and
said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So then, they
are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined
together, let not man separate. Matthew 19:4-6
Jesus argument against the Sadducees in Luke 20:34-38 is also
illuminating on this front. N.T. Wright observes:
The logic of Lukes version of Jesus riposte then depends for its force
on two unstated assumptions: (a) that marriage is instituted to cope
with the problem that people die; (b) angels do not die. The Levirate
law, quite explicitly, had to do with continuing the family line when
faced with death; Jesus in Lukes version, not only declares that this
law will be redundant in a world without death, but that marriage itself,
even with one husband and one wife, will likewise be irrelevant in such
a world. A key point, often unnoticed, is that the Sadducees question
is not about the mutual affection and companionship of husband and
wife, but about how to fulfil the command to have a child, that is, how
in the future life the family line will be kept going. This is presumably
based on the belief, going back to Genesis 1.28 that the main purpose
of marriage was to be fruitful and multiply.
33 Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13 (KJV)
34 "What the Bible says and means about homosexuality".religioustolerance.org.

The purpose of marriage, both in Genesis 1 and 2 is about much

more than companionship. It is framed by the concept of vocation: the
vocation of humanity to be fruitful and multiply, to fill and subdue the
earth, and Adams vocation to serve the earth, to guard and keep the
garden, and to uphold its law. After the Fall, marriage is also framed by
the reality of death and the need to survive and multiply in its face.
Human companionship is wonderful and many of its benefits can be
enjoyed in particular richness in the context of the lifelong bond of
marriage. However, marriage serves ends beyond this and, for
Scripture, the tasks of procreation and child-rearing are central. In the
new creation, the human race will have finished these tasks and so
marriage ceases too. Companionship isnt as primary an end of
marriage in biblical thought as it is within contemporary society,
where, given the nature of our world and our economy, companionship
with a spouse has to bear the sort of existential weight that were
previously typically borne by thick relationships within a settled
community.
Christians should also speak to the subject of same-sex marriage
because we are members of society and have an interest in and duty
to it. Marriage and the family that grows from it represent the
fundamental institution of the original creation. It relates us to deep
and transcendent dimensions of reality. It humanizes some of our most
fundamental animal functions and orders them to personal and societal
ends. It explores and articulates the meanings of the most basic
created anthropological difference and relationship that between a
man and a woman. We should seek to guard this for the sake of the
good of wider society and for generations to come.
The effect of same-sex marriage is not really about the
cumulative effect of particular gay couples getting married. Its true
damage arises from the corrosive influence of the system of values
that it champions and establishes. This system of values isnt an
invention of LGBT communities. Rather, it is a system of values that
has been operative in wider society for some time. The problem with
same-sex marriage is that it establishes this system of values as the
new orthodoxy, the public meaning of marriage, accelerating the

change in what marriage means for everyone and making reversal of

these unhealthy trends exceedingly difficult.
It shouldnt surprise us if same-sex marriage further decreases
the number of people who marry (as marriage moves from being a
cultural norm to a private lifestyle choice), increasing the number of
children born out of wedlock. Nor should it surprise us if it reinforces
the values of divorce culture (as that is the flipside of the romantic
view of marriage that makes love its all-encompassing rationale), and
gives pace to the movement towards a loosening of the values of
monogamy.35 Civil unions are not inherently different in the rights and
burdens they distribute, compared to marriage. This is contingent on
the civil union legislation of a particular country. Civil partnerships in
the UK and in South Africa, for example, distribute the same benefits
and duties as do marriage. So it is perfectly possible to design parallel
legal structures to those of marriage. This part of proposition's case is
factually false.

It is also false to suggest that questions around

custody, and the like, cannot be equittably dealt with between straight
couples and gay gouples unless all couples enter into marriage
regimes. For one thing, a lot of administrative and social barriers to
custody persist even when marriage is extended to gay persons. Gay
couples in South Africa, including married ones, sometimes struggle to
access parental rights due to administrative and social hurdles. This
evidences the fact that same-sex marriage is NOT the panacea for
substantive equality. Conversely, gay persons' right to adopt children,
by way of example, was legally recognised before gay marriage was
legalised in South Africa. This speaks to the fact that each of these
social policy issues can be, and tend to be, independently debated and
decided. Proposition is, without evidence, assuming that there is a
necessary connection between them. Homosexuals are just as capable
as heterosexuals of being faithful or of being promiscuous, and many
married couples still experiment with infidelity.36

35 https://alastairadversaria.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/the-same-sex-marriage-debatequestions-and-answers/

36 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinsey_Reports#cite_note-15

Children need both a mother and a father. Girls who are raised
apart from their fathers are reportedly at higher risk for early sexual
activity and teenage pregnancy.37 Children without a mother are
deprived of the emotional security and unique advice that mothers
provide. A 2012 study by Mark Regnerus, PhD, Associate Professor of
Sociology at the University of Texas at Austin,found that children raised
by parents who had same-sex relationships suffered more difficulties in
life (including sexual abuse and unemployment in later life) than
children raised by "intact biological famil[ies]." 38 Doug Mainwaring, the
openly gay co-founder of National Capital Tea Party Patriots, stated that
"it became increasingly apparent to me, even if I found somebody else
exactly like me, who loved my kids as much as I do, there would still be
a gaping hole in their lives because they need a mom... I don't want to
see children being engineered for same-sex couples where there is
either a mom missing or a dad missing."

39

DECISION POINT: IT IS DIFFICULT TO ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE IN THE

PHILIPPINES
The reason why Philippines cannot pass a law allowing gay
marriage can be summarized in a statement given by Feliciano "Sonny"
Belmonte,

Jr.,

member

of

the Philippine

House

of

Representatives representing the Fourth District of Quezon City and

Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, stated
when asked for his opinion on this matter. He said that, At any rate, I
think from the point of view of our own culture, its an impossibility for
the next few years,

This is because a law adjusts to the countrys

predominantly Catholic culture, which frowns upon marriage of the

same sex the law lives within the culture. Its not yet within the
culture. The law cant create the culture. The culture creates the law

37 Bruce J. Ellis, "Does Father Absence Place Daughters at Special Risk for Early Sexual
Activity and Teenage Pregnancy?" Child Development, May 2003

38 Mark Regnerus, "How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex
Relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study,"Social Science Research, 2012

39 Napp Nazworth, "Kids Need Both Mom and Dad, Says Gay Man Opposed to Gay Marriage,"
christianpost.com, Jan. 28, 2013

I want to make to make it clear that I am 100 percent against

discrimination based on gender. Belmonte said.40
Belmontes 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 Farias. Echoing Farias view, Isabela
Rep. Rodolfo Albano III said no move to legalize same-sex marriage in
the country will prosper in Congress. He further added that, Theres
no hope for that (legalizing same-sex unions). If we dont have any
divorce law, how do you think a law on same-sex marriages is going to
pass? he asked.41

40 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/701494/speaker-belmonte-same-sex-marriage-law-in-phimpossible#ixzz3hJRaewyG

41 http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/512106/news/nation/chances-congress-willlegalize-same-sex-marriage-slim-and-none