Manila: The Philippine government said it remains unmoved in its stand not to recognise unions between couples from the same sex, despite trends in other countries and states.
“What is stated in our laws are clear — only the union between a man and a woman is recognised,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said on Sunday during an interview over government radio station dzRB.
The palace was reacting to recent trends in Western countries to legalise gay marriages.
Recently the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is legal.
Coloma said that while the Philippines can consider itself up to date in outlook in certain matters, the country is not ready to embrace this trend.
Coloma echoed the outlook voiced by the Catholic Church — the faith observed by the majority in the country of 100 million — that same sex union is not allowed under the country’s Constitution and the Family Code.
The Family Code states that a “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,” thus, the Philippines cannot recognise vows a couple from the same sex.
Coloma said that while there are a number of couples from same sex living in the Philippines, their “marriage” is not recognised under the country’s laws.
For its part, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it the Church “continues to maintain what it has always taught.”
“Marriage is a permanent union of man and woman, in the complementarity of the sexes and the mutual fulfilment that the union of a man and a woman bring into the loftiness of the matrimonial bond. If there is an undeniable difference between man and woman, there is also an undeniable difference between the permanent union of a man and a woman,” said Archbishop Socretes Villegas, President of the CBCP.
