Senate Minority Leader Senator Aquilino 'Koko' Pimentel III does not agree with Senator Robinhood 'Robin' Padilla’s bill legalizing same-sex civil union.
Pimentel bared this in reaction to Senate Bill (SB) 449 filed by Padilla.
SB 449 seeks to legalize same-sex civil unions, a mandate observed in around 31 countries and territories.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2022/08/11/padilla-bill-upholds-civil-union-right-of-same-sex-couples/
According to Pimentel, Padilla’s bill seeking same-sex civil union is the same as a bill seeking same-sex marriage, with the word “marriage” replaced with “civil union.
“Imbis na same-sex marriage, pinalitan lang ng same-sex civil union. Yung objections natin sa same-sex marriage applicable din sa panukala ni Senator Robinhood Padilla (Instead of same-sex marriage, it was replaced with same-sex civil union. Our objections to same-sex marriage are applicable to Padilla’s bill)” Pimentel said during an interview with DZBB on Sunday morning, Aug. 14.
He was then asked why he had objections against same-sex marriage.
“Yung marriage, institution na yan ng lipunan yun. Ibang iba sya sa pagka intindi natin. Ang marriage para satin between man and woman, ang purpose para magkaroon ng pamilya, anak nila, maging basic unit ng society yung pamilya, Tapos isama-sama mo yung mga magagandang pamilya, maganda ang komunidad at maganda yung bansa (Marriage is a societal institution. Its different from how we understand it. Marriage is between a man and a woman and its purpose is to create a family and children, and to become a basic unit of society. Then, put the families together to form communities and the country),” Pimentel explained.
The Senate Minority Leader then cited Republic Act (RA) 386 or the Civil Code of the Philippines, specifically, provisions which allow for “partnerships” among citizens.
“Ang tanong, lalaki at lalaki gusto magsama, babae at babae gusto magsama, pwede naman tignan ang Civil Code meron na tinatawag dyan na ‘partnership.’ Yung partnership, protektahan nila yung kanilang relationship nila through a partnership which is already recognized by the Civil Code of the Philippines noon-noon pa (The question now is if two men or two women want to get together, one can look at the Civil Code which allows for a ‘partnership.’ A partnership protects their relationship and has been recognized by the Civil Code for a long time),” he said.
As per Article 1767 of RA 386, a partnership is defined as follows:
“By the contract of partnership two or more persons bind themselves to contribute money, property, or industry to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the profits among themselves. Two or more persons may also form a partnership for the exercise of a profession.”
He was then asked if he thought this bill would pass in the 19th Congress.
“Ang aking pagbasa sa ating kababayan, number one: hindi pa tayo handa. Number two: masisira po ang ating understanding ng marriage...number three: sa daming problema ng bansa, ito ba dapat ang umpisahan natin, tungkol dito (From my understanding of our countrymen, number one: we aren’t ready. Number two: our understanding of marriage will be destroyed...number three: with all the problems we face in our country, should we start this debate)?,” Pimentel added, citing the economic crisis, the food crisis, inflation, and government corruption as problems already weighing down on the 19th Congress.
Meanwhile, fellow Minority Senator Risa Hontiveros lauded Padilla and his same-sex civil union bill.