Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte would respect the decision of Congress whether it will pass or not the controversial Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill, Malacañang said Friday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the remarks after Senate President Vicente Sotto III said there is “no chance” for the bill to pass the Senate.
READ: Sotto: ‘No chance’ of passing SOGIE Equality bill in Senate
“With respect to any bill, the discretion, the wisdom will always lie in the lawmakers,” Panelo told reporters in Malacañang.
Renewed calls for the passage of the SOGIE bill were made after transwoman Gretchen Diez was briefly detained last week after she was arrested for unjust vexation for documenting how she was denied entry by a janitress to a women’s toilet in a mall in Cubao, Quezon City.
Diez had already met with Duterte in Malacañang while Panelo said the President is supportive of the SOGIE Equality bill.
READ: Duterte meets trans woman in mall restroom incident
But “even if the President supports it,” Panelo told reporters that “if Congress disagrees, that’s how the so called balance of power and checks and balances operate.” /jpv