The Catholic Church holds great sway in the Philippines although many Filipinos take parts of its doctrine with a large handful of salt. Now its President, the awful Duterte who sanctions illegal killings but is no fan of the Church, has stated to an LGBT meeting that he is in favour of gay marriage. He has even claimed some members of his own family are gay and that he himself had once toyed with the idea of being bisexual.
"I am for (same) sex marriage if that is the trend of modern times," he said. "If that will add to your happiness, I am for it . . . Why impose a morality that is no longer working and almost passe," he said, adding that "there will be no oppression" during his term in office and that his government would recognise the LGBT community's "importance in society".
Will he be true to his word? Who knows? After all it is not so long ago that he was frequently quoted as being against gay marriage. I would not put money on it!