Boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, who is now running for senator, could have learned a thing or two from Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidate Ina Ambolodto.
READ: Pacquiao says people who want same-sex marriage are lower than animals
Ambolodto — an assistant secretary for Muslim affairs in President Noynoy Aquino’s government — had this answer when she was asked about her stand on same-sex marriage: “I respect same-sex relationships and their civil rights to obligations and properties. It’s freedom of choice. In Islam, bawal po sa amin ‘yan [same-sex relationships is forbidden in Islam]. But I respect their rights.”
A Newsdesk article describes Ambolodto as “a Catholic-educated Muslim and a scholar in the Institute of Islamic Studies at the University of the Philippines (UP).”
The Newsdesk article also quoted Ambolodto as saying, “Even if Islam teaches that a man is for a woman and a woman is for a man, we have to recognize and respect same-sex relationships.”
Amboldto then pointed out that what the government could do is “to enact a law that respects the couple’s right to be together as a couple, and protect each person’s rights, including property rights.”
The Newsdesk article noted: “Ambolodto’s comments sparked an angry backlash from Muslims online, with many saying they would not back her in the coming elections. A man named Abdul Manap Yasin Barua commented, ‘She will definitely not win.’ Another person called Ambolodto ‘ignorant’ about the teachings of Islam. However, other Muslims defended her with one saying, ‘There is nothing wrong with being respectful.'”
