Comment
by Jose Maria Sison
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
April 14, 2019

There is an attempt of some malicious elements to misrepresent me as being against the gays, bisexuals and queers, and the entire lot of the LGBTQ sector as a result of my criticism and ridicule of Duterte’s hypocrisy in making a public overstatement of his macho sexuality and his contempt for gays, despite certain statements of his to the contrary a number of times.

The issue is not his actual sexual orientation, whether male heterosexual or bisexual, but his hypocrisy and mendacity. Whatever is the gender or sexual orientation a person has cannot be helped, like the color of the skin or social circumstances of birth, and he or she (to use conventional pronouns) cannot be taken to task for said orientation.

Contrary to Duterte’s frequent assertions of masculinity, he admitted in a television interview in 2016 with Vice Ganda that he was once gay but that he “reformed” as if being gay were something bad.

Duterte also publicly admitted that he often had joint masturbation with Dominguez in a speech at a Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) event in Bulacan in December 2017. In a recent speech, he actually claimed that he made a mighty erection whenever he was with other naked men at the YMCA dormitory bathroom.

Duterte himself again exposed his own bisexual orientation or behavior. I did not criticize his actual sexual orientation but I simply criticized his hypocrisy and mendacity in overstating his macho heterosexuality and yet unwittingly giving evidence to the contrary.

It is quite a malicious spin for anyone to state that I am culpable for discriminating against heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality per se. I have long advocated gender equality and respect for the gender and sexual orientation of anyone. It is utterly malicious for anyone to ascribe to me as my own bias what I precisely criticize in Duterte’s sexist, hypocritical and mendacious statements. ###