He may have opposed same-sex marriage in the country but President Duterte has resolved not to stand in the way of a person’s pursuit of happiness.
The President explained that he does not take issue with anyone’s sexuality and recognized a person’s right to live a “happy and fulfilled” life as long as they don’t violate the country’s laws.
“If it makes the gays happy, let them be. I do not condemn anybody there. What makes you happy, good. Just don’t violate the law, period,” Duterte said in a press conference at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport shortly after his arrival from Myanmar and Thailand yesterday.
Duterte said he respects how a person lives his life because “you only live once.”
“Pero kung ano tanungin mo ako kung anong makapaligaya sa iyo, gawin mo. Isang beses lang dumaan dito. Never to return back. This is one straight deal. Kaya kung anong makapaligaya mo, you go out of this universe happy and fulfilled,” he added.
Duterte said he respects a person’s decision how to live his life as long as he obeys the law. “I am centered on the human being. What pleases your existence? Isang daanan lang tayo sa buhay na ito. Kung ano ang makapaligaya sa isang tao o dalawang tao, kanila ‘yan,” he said.
The President, however, is still unlikely to support same-sex union because it is against the country’s law. “There is a law which say – in the Family Code sa ating Civil Code defining the relations of non – our society, marriages and everything, it says that marriage is always between a man and a woman,” he said. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)