Manila says no to gay marriages

The leadership of the Philippines' dominant Roman Catholic Church stressed its opposition to legalizing gay marriage this week despite the landmark decision by the US Supreme Court.
The Philippine government, meanwhile, affirmed that under its law, marriage is still between a man and a woman and only an act of Congress can change this, unlike in the United States.
The prevailing law, or the Family Code of the Philippines, clearly states that the only marriages recognized in the country are those between “a man and a woman,” Presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said on state-run radio. 
The Code, he added, states: “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.”
He added that same-sex marriages contracted by Filipinos abroad are not recognized in the Philippines.
Last Friday's US court decision has stirred interest in the socially conservative Philippines, the only country besides the Vatican that still outlaws divorce.
Church pressure delayed a law allowing for wider distribution of contraceptives for 15 years. It was finally passed in 2014 but abortion remains illegal.
According to Board of Trustees member of the Filipino group Ang Ladlad, Rica Paras, the decision of the US Supreme Court to uphold gay marriage in all 50 states has been a source of celebration for Filipino gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.
Paras said the hope of the global LGBT community is that the decision will trickle down in other countries including the Philippines, noting that it will tackle the legal rights of gay couples.
"Marriage is the ultimate expression of love for your partner and that is common for all people," Paras said in an ABS-CBN Umagang Kay Ganda interview.
However, the Ang Ladlad official said the group wants an Anti-Discrimination Law passed first while acknowledging that a same-sex marriage law would help gay couples.
"We want this law passed first because it affects our every day lives," Paras said.
The anti-discrimination bill, which has languished in Congress for more than a decade, imposes fines and jail time for discrimination against LGBTs in various incidents, including but not limited to:
-deny access to public service, including military service, to any person on the basis of sexual orientation and/ or gender identity;
-include sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as the disclosure of sexual orientation, in the criteria of hiring, promotion and dismissal of workers, and in the determination of employee compensation, training, incentives, privileges, benefits or allowances and other terms and conditions of employment;
-refuse admission or expel a person from educational institutions on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;
-refuse or revoke the accreditation, formal recognition, and or registration of any organization, group, political party, institution or establishment solely on the basis of sexual orientation.
Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of San Beda Graduate School of Law, said he does not see the Catholic Church changing its doctrine on same sex marriage in the near future.
However, he noted that the US Supreme Court decision forces the church to "re-examine its understanding of the human situation."
"The church starts with the understanding that there are differences between man and woman. The differences are not just anatomical and physical but psychological and spiritual..." he said.
"The church has always taken marriage as the coming together of two different persons, different not only biologically but spiritually and sexually as the union from which new human life begins," he added.
He also said the Philippine Supreme Court will not necessarily follow the US Supreme Court's example since there are differences between the Philippine and US Constitutions.
Malacañang said there will be no changes in the existing laws on marriage and family in the country -- unless a proposal is passed in Congress.
Lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III earlier asked the Philippine Supreme Court to nullify and declare as unconstitutional provisions of the Family Code, which laid down the legal framework for the ban on same-sex marriage.
Falcis also said these provisions "deprive [him] and other homosexuals the right to liberty without substantive due process of law" and "deny them the equal protection of the laws."
He further argued that the subject provisions cause lesbian and gay Filipinos to be "relegated to 2nd class citizens."
Meanwhile a survey showed seven in 10 Filipinos disagree with same-sex marriage.
Up to 70% of the survey respondents said they "strongly disagree" with same-sex marriage being allowed in the predominantly Catholic country.
A small 4% said they "strongly agree" with same-sex marriage.
The rest of the respondents "somewhat disagree" (14%) and "somewhat agree" (12%) with a possible reform in the country's marriage laws. The numbers were rounded off.
The sentiment against same-sex marriage is "strong" across the board based on regional and socio-economic breakdown of the survey exclusively conducted by Laylo Research Strategies for the newspaper The Standard.
It's a blow to the campaign of the country's advocates of same-sex marriage who recently held rallies to celebrate last week's ruling of the United States Supreme Court allowing same-sex marriage in all 50 states. 
In the Philippines, netizens have shown support for same-sex marriage by adopting a Facebook gimmick to add to their profile photos the rainbow colors that have symbolized the fight for marriage equality in America.
Another study by Viacom International Media Networks Insights, spanned over 20 countries, included 15,000 interviews and revealed global trends among the generation belonging to the age group of 12-30 years at the turn of the century.
A key trend revealed by this project was that a majority of global millennials agreed that “all people should have the right to marry whomsoever they choose, including same-sex couples".
In countries where same-sex marriage is already legal and accepted, the issue enjoys the widest support. Some of the nations according widespread support to same-sex marriage are: the Netherlands - 83 percent, Spain - 81 percent, Sweden - 81 percent, Germany - 78 percent, Canada - 78 percent and Argentina 78 - percent.
A study of web respondents of all ages by The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) found that the more tolerant a country’s legislation is toward same-sex marriage, the more the residents of that country support it.