Same-sex marriage criminalized under bill
IT hasn’t happened, but just in case, Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. has filed a bill criminalizing same-sex marriage.
House Bill No. 6919 filed by the Lakas-Kampi-CMD representative branded same-sex union as "highly immoral, scandalous and detestable."
Abante, representing Manila’s 6th district, is a senior pastor of Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church in Manila before he joined politics and is an active anti-pornography campaigner.
The bill recommends penalties both for the applicants for marriage and the solemnizing officer.
Under the bill, the would-be partners face 15 years imprisonment and a P150,000 fine.
Likewise, anybody caught faking or trying to mis-declare his/her gender in order to secure a marriage license may be meted a 12-year jail term and a P100,000 fine.
If the offender is a public officer or employee, he/she shall be dismissed from government service and banned from re-employment in any public office.
The bill requires the Local Civil Registrar and the solemnizing officer to ascertain the gender of applicants before issuing a marriage license or prior to the ceremony.
And even if applicants do succeed in escaping scrutiny and are duly wed as a couple, their license will be considered null and void.
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