Villanueva claims SOGIE bill being used to legalize same-sex marriage; Hontiveros refutes

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Monday said he believed the SOGIESC bill is being pushed to legalize same-sex marriage in the country—a claim immediately refuted by Senator Risa Hontiveros, who said that the committee report on the bill did not include provisions on marriage licenses.

The committee report on the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics bill was supposed to have been sponsored in the Senate plenary, but instead was remanded to the committee on rules.

"Yun po yung pinaka-bottomline nito. Gusto nila ng same sex marriage? Ano ba? 'Wag na tayo maglokohan. Is it what they are asking for? Pero sinasabi nila hindi. 'Wag na tayong maglokohan. Same-sex marriage talaga ang gusto," Villanueva said in an interview with reporters.

(That's the bottom line here. They want same-sex marriage? Let's not joke around. Is that what they're asking for? But they're saying it isn't. Let's not kid ourselves. Same-sex marriage is what they really want.)

He said the Philippines should not pass this legislation just because other countries have already approved it.

"Let's talk [about] the general perspective of some of the individuals pushing for this. Di komo ginagawa ng ibang bansa gagawin na po natin dito. Pilipinas po ito [Just because other countries are doing it we should do it here too. This is the Philippines]. We value family, we value our family code," he said.

"'Di ho pupwedeng magpapasa tayo ng ganitong batas na lang, sige bahala na. Sumunod ang Family Code, sirain natin lahat ng napasa nating batas," he added.

(We cannot just pass a law like this. The Family Code will be next, let's destroy all the laws that we have passed.)

Asked to comment on Villanueva's remarks, Hontiveros reiterated that the SOGIESC bill does not cover same-sex marriage.

"Hindi aabutin ng higit benteng taon ang labang ito kung tayo ay nakikipaglokohan. Walang nakasaad sa SOGIE Bill ukol sa same sex marriage. Wala 'yang halong biro. Walang punchline. At lalong walang chismis. Doon lang tayo sa totoo," Hontiveros said.

(This fight would not have lasted more than 20 years if we have just been trying to fool each other. There is nothing in the SOGIE bill about same-sex marriage. There are no jokes in there, no punchline. And definitely no gossip. We stick to the truth.)

"As I explicitly stated during my manifestation, this is not the bill that will grant marriage licenses. It is that simple and that clear. In fact, explicitly excluded sa Committee report ang marriage licenses," she added.

Hontiveros also took a swipe at Villanueva, saying his interpretation of the proposed law is ambiguous.

"Laws are worded to be as precise as possible, so that interpretation is unambiguous. Any ordinary lawmaker should know that, let alone a majority leader," she quipped.

GMA News Online has sought the comment of Metro Manila Pride, The Red Whistle, Bahaghari, UP Babaylan, and PUP Kasarianlan's comment on the matter but they have yet to respond as of posting time.

Last week, Hontiveros disclosed that the majority of her colleagues had signed a letter which seeks to remand the committee report to the committee on women, children, family relations and gender equality panel as a number of pastors still want to speak on regarding the proposed law.

While she expresses no objection to the return of the committee report to the panel which she chairs, Hontiveros clarified that several evangelical groups participated actively during the committee hearing and the technical working group for the measure.

However, Villanueva raised that the bill suggested to remand the bill to the committee on rules, which he chairs, instead of Hontiveros' committee.

After a lengthy debate on the referral of the SOGIESC bill, the majority voted to remand the bill to the committee on rules.

The body decided to conduct a meeting among members of the committee on rules to determine the chamber's next action on the SOGIESC bill.

SB 1600 or the SOGIESC Equality Bill prohibits discriminatory practices on the basis of SOGIESC, such as refusing admission to or expelling a person from any educational or training institution; imposing disciplinary sanctions harsher than customary that infringe on the rights of students; and refusing or revoking accreditation of organizations, groups, political parties, or institutions.

It recommends a penalty of not less than P100,000 but not more than P250,000 or imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years for individuals who would commit such discriminatory practices.

The bill states that nothing in the measure should be interpreted to disturb the exercise of parental authority, "provided that such exercise shall be subject to limitations provided for by law and the rights and best interests of the child."

The committee report was signed by Hontiveros, Senators Sonny Angara, Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, Nancy Binay, Ronald dela Rosa (may interpellate, with reservation), Grace Poe (may amend and interpellate), Mark Villar (with reservation), Francis Tolentino (may amend and interpellate), JV Ejercito, Robin Padilla, Raffy Tulfo, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla Jr., Francis Escudero, Lito Lapid, and Pimentel. — BM, GMA Integrated News