Vice President Sara Duterte announced on Tuesday her support for legislation that will protect the relationship between LGBTQ+ community members.
She made the statement during her speech for the 62nd "Pa-Wedding ni Tambunting," a mass wedding event in Para&ntilde;aque City held on Valentine's Day.
"Marami pong gender ngayon na kinikilala ang ating society. Naisip ko, sana sa mga susunod na taon, &lsquo;yung ibang gender, katulad ng mga LGBTQI, ay mabigyan din sila ng proteksyon ng batas sa kani-kanilang lang mga partners at sa kanilang mga relationship," Duterte said.
During the 2022 election period, Duterte said that she <a href="https://dzrh.com.ph/post/sara-duterte-reveals-she-identifies-with-lgbtq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identifies herself</a> as part of the LGBT community, with her gender expression being male and her sex being female.
However, OVP spokesperson Reynold Munsayac clarified that Duterte does not directly support same-sex marriage.
"Vice President Sara Duterte did not say she supports same-sex marriage in the Philippines, as reported in a news article," the spokesperson said.
This was amid a heated discussion in the Senate between Senators Joel Villanueva and Risa Hontiveros regarding the passage of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression Equality (SOGIE) bill.
Villanueva raised his concern about the bill as the gateway to passing same-sex marriage, in which Hontiveros clarified that there is no such proposal relating to the said notion.

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VP Sara to support legal protection for LGBTQ+ relationships