Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s support for the passage of a same-sex or marriage equality law allowing LGBTI people to marry was welcomed by EnGendeRights. According to Atty. Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of the human rights organization: “The right to marry is a basic human right that everyone should enjoy – heterosexuals and LGBTI people alike. It is guaranteed by our constitutional rights to equality, equal protection of the law, privacy, religion and belief.”