FILE PHOTO: Vice presidential candidate and Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III
MANILA, Philippines — Should he and Senator Panfilo Lacson win the May 9 polls, vice presidential candidate Senate President Vicente Sotto III said he would be open to having members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in the Cabinet.
“Of course. Of course. I have many LGBT friends. As a matter of fact, I have many LGBT supporters,” Sotto told the PiliPinas Forum 2022 organized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) aired on Wednesday.
“You can ask the LGBT [community members] not only in Metro Manila but also in Iloilo and Bacolod, I have groups there from the LGBT+ supporting my candidacy,” he added.
“Of course, sa Eat Bulaga pa lang, ang dami naming LGBT roon, puro kaibigan ko lahat yun, they are very supportive [Of course in Eat Bulaga alone, there are a lot of LGBT community members there, I’m friends with all of them and they are very supportive],” he further said.
Before this, Sotto was asked regarding the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Equality bill that remains pending in the Senate.
READ: Sotto says ‘So long, Sogie’ in Senate
“I have no problem with the LGBT+ community. I am willing to approve the anti-discrimination bill if it addresses them,” Sotto said.
“The problem with the SOGIE bill that was filed in the Senate, it violated freedom of religion and academic freedom, iyon ang pinagdedebatihan namin [that is what we were debating on]. And then of course, there were others who were saying it’s class legislation,” he added.
READ: Fiery debate erupts anew over Sogie bill
Sotto said he would be supportive of the SOGIE bill if provisions—which he believes go against freedom of religion and academic freedom—are not included in the measure.
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