Sample Leader of the Opposition Speech RESOLVED: THAT SAME SEX MARRIAGE NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Good afternoon Madam Speaker and members of this house. The proposition is: Resolved: that same sex marriage not be allowed in the Philippines. Before I go on to my arguments, let me first rebut and refute the statements given to us by the prime minister. (Here, I will mention my rebuttals.)

Let me now proceed to the cases that our side will forward in this debate. We, from the opposition, are going to talk about the following concrete points. First, I, as the leader of the opposition, will talk about the legal framework of the Philippines in terms of handling issues regarding same sex unions. I will also discuss about the context of the Filipino society and its readinessto face the problem posed to us by the government side. Related to this is the mindset of Filipinos which I will elaborate further as I go on to through my arguments. Second, my deputy will tackle the social structure of the Filipino society and the family values that we want to uphold. And lastly, the parliamentarians will give a new look of the proposition by arguing on the moral and religious implications of same sex marriage, plus,the feminist groups who forward their rights, and the perception of the international community.

Madam Speaker, members of this house, we tell you that forwarding same sex marriage in our country is basically illegal and unconstitutional. Marriage, as defined in the Family Code of the Philippines in the 1987 Constitution, is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by the Code. See? The law itself says that marriage is only between a man and a woman, not between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. In the Philippines, marriage will only be considered valid if and only if it complies with the number one requisite which is the legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female as stated in the Article 2 of the Family Code. If we allow same sex marriage, it will invalidate the definition given by the Constitution.This only therefore debunks the whole case that the government side is pointing out.And this was the main reason why Pinoy male couple Rolly Marcial and Jojo Capio chose to be wed in UK; they were the first Filipino male couple that was married in the United Kingdom according to ABS-CBN News. But the legalities is not the only reason, there are still underlying issues which I will discuss later.

Ladies and gentlemen, allowing same sex marriage is a problem that cannot be solved overnight.If we want to legalize same sex marriage or civil partnerships, then we have to amend the Constitution. And amending the constitution requires a lot of work and must undergo a long process. Its just like passing a bill which needs to be studied and debated by lawmakers both in the lower and upper house. These are the reasons why there were several unsuccessful attempts of bills that favor same sex unions.Even couples who have been together for decades are seen as nothing more than mere friends in the eyes of the government, and none of the benefits and rights that heterosexual couples enjoy are extended to homosexual couples.The first bill that sought to recognize the LGBT community as a sector was filed by the Late Congressman Reynalo Calalay (District 1 of Quezon City) in 1995. The bill allowed for the participation of the LGBT sector in the party-list elections. The various LGBT organizations and individuals consulted for the Calalay bill started discussions on the creation of LEGACY, or the Lesbian and Gay Citizens Alliance. The Alliance did not materialize.Since 2006, four anti-discrimination bills have been submitted and are pending before the Senate and Congress. As of 2009, however, none have been acted upon. Heated opposition from the Catholic Church (to which a majority of Filipinos belong), as well as from the largest political parties (all of which are socially conservative) has all but stopped the wheels of progress from turning. Given these scenario, we from the opposition firmly believes that allowing same sex marriage will only complicate and add to the burdens the Philippines is facing. We do not oppose same sex cohabitation or live in, we would allow it, but we are against of is the allowing or legalizing of same sex union. There is no problem with the status quo because we would still tolerate same sex cohabitation which is actually present in the Philippines. Allow me to go to my next argument. Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, applying same sex marriage in the Philippine contextexacerbates the Filipino society. Why? For two main reasons. First, majority of the Filipinos are socially conservative which makes them not ready for this issue. Second, there is a large influence of the Catholic Church which affects our decisions. If we allow same sex marriage, it will defeat the purpose of the family which is the foundation of the society. Every child has the right to have a father and a mother who are legally recognized by the law as husband and wife. We are not ready for this, but perhaps in the future we could consider it. Before I end my speech, what I have just told you are two salient points. One, allowing same sex marriage is illegal and unconstitutional. Two, the Philippines is not ready to have same sex marriage because most of us are socially conservative and majority of the Filipinos are Catholics. With these clashes, the opposition begins to win.