While surveys reflect the sentiment of the people, an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said it does not reflect the truth.
Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said this in reaction to the online survey of the House of Representatives on same sex union.
“Surveys do not reflect the truth. They merely gauge the sentiment of the people,” he said in an interview.
“So, even if majority of Filipinos favor same sex union and call it by any other name such as civil partnership, the truth is such union is still called marriage,” added Secillano.
The CBCP official stressed that marriage must be between a man and a woman as enshrined in the constitution, the Family Code and as ordained by God.
In the past, Catholic prelates opposed any plan to legalize same sex marriage in the country even for civil union.
The Church leaders insist that marriage should be between a man and a woman only.
“Marriage as willed by God is between a man and a woman,” Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said in a previous interview.
Then Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said same sex marriage is not only against Divine Law, but is also against human and Natural law.
“The purpose of marriage is to have a family, kids…but if the couple is of the same sex the one who will suffer the most in this situation is their child because its not normal,” he said.
“In the eyes of God, a married couple is a man and a woman,” Arguelles added.
Last week, the House of Representatives began holding an online survey in its official website regarding same-sex unions as a form of civil partnership in the country.
The poll asks respondents on whether they are in favor, against, or undecided on whether it was time to legalize same-sex unions in the Philippines. (Leslie Ann Aquino)
