MANILA - Partido Lakas ng Masa senatorial candidate Luke Espiritu said Wednesday he supports the passage of legislation on divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage.

The lawyer had gone viral on social media for taking a stand against controversial lawyer Larry Gadon who interrupted him during the SMNI senatorial debates.

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Asked on his stance on various issues, Espiritu said he would "vote for divorce and that "abortion should be decriminalized."

"Women's Day was yesterday. Poor women in our country have died by abortions done in an unhealthy environment or through unhealthy methods. They have exercised their choice over their own bodies, which is also tied to the future...If they had children that will be born into poverty, that's even more tragic," he told ANC's Headstart.

"We have controlled women’s bodies for too long...telling women when to reproduce, what to think, what to wear. Telling women their limitations. Women should decide. I don’t consider abortion murder. I consider it as a choice of women over their own bodies. I am a man, what right do I have to tell a woman what to do with her body?"

The senatorial candidate said he would also support same-sex marriage.

"I will support thee SOGIE (Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity or Expression) Bill, in fact I would go beyond that I will support the same-sex marriage," he said.

"I am not trapo. At the risk of losing votes, I will not compromise on principles...Others will say I'm just for civil union but it's a half-hearted statement. It is pandering both to those who are pro and con. I will definitely stand by my convictions no matter what."

Espiritu, who graduated from the Ateneo de Manila School of Law, said he came from a middle class family.

"My father was also a lawyer and he had to raise us 7 children so it doesn’t leave too much for savings and to have a privileged lifestyle. People from the middle class they have 2 choices, it’s either to side [with] workers or to side with the capital," he said.

"I don’t think my story is unique, There are several others who went in the same path. We don’t have to delve into the past to see Ateneans who sided with the workers or the oppressed. Part din yan ng lipunan na people like us who have education will use that in order to strengthen the movement from below rather than use their talents and skills to enrich the wealthy."

Espiritu said his role model senator was Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino.

"Personally I idolize Ninoy Aquino. Perhaps not Ninoy Aquino of the pre-martial law days but the Ninoy Aquino after that. He has really, in his own fashion, analyzed what keeps us poor, what keeps us shackled to the interest of the wealthy. And he described himself as a Christian socialist," he said.

"I’m a proletarian socialist. We have differences in trying to analyze the problems of our society and the solutions but the ending point would still be the same. We want a humane society where society does not take care of the interest of the top 1 percent but takes care of the interest of the majority."

Asked if he ever thought of joining the Liberal Party, Espiritu said: "I am a labor leader and I am with the labor movement. There are many differences also in terms of economic policies. I do not believe in the neo-liberal type of development they are trying to push for our country."

Espiritu said the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos was worse than the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

"The regime killed more people under Duterte but I would say it’s still Marcos. With all the authoritarian rule, the powers concentrated in his hands. He made laws by himself without Congress," he said.

The possible victory of the dictator's son Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos would be a "continuity of Duterte," he added.

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