Although President Duterte of the Philippines is a controversial personality, his recent statement on gay marriage will elicit positive and negative reactions from different camps.
News that Rodrigo Duterte would not, after all, support gay marriage came partway through a lengthy speech during the Philippine President’s two-day trip to Myanmar, apparently closing the door on a campaign pledge to consider legalizing it.
In an address to Myanmar’s Filipino community on Sunday, Duterte castigated E.U. lawmakers who last week adopted a resolution condemning “the many extrajudicial killings” of his drug war. Then, referencing a recent edition of TIME magazine, in which the cover story focuses on changing attitudes to gender identity and sexuality in American culture, he warned of attempts to impose Western values on the Philippines.