SC junks plea to legalize same-sex marriage

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 3)— The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed a plea to legalize same-sex marriage in the country.

The high court, in a statement Tuesday, said it junked the petition for certiorari and prohibition filed Atty. Jesus Falcis due to its "lack of standing" and for "failing to raise an actual, justiciable controversy."

The court, despite acknowledging that the 1987 Constitution "does not define or restrict marriage on the basis of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression," said Congress should address the recognition of same-sex unions.

Falcis in 2015 filed the petition asking SC to declare Articles 1 and 2 of the Family Code unconstitutional. The provisions of the said measure limits marriage between a man and a woman.

The lawyer also wanted to nullify Articles 46(4) and 55 (6) of the Family Code, which include homosexuality or lesbianism as legal grounds for annulment and legal separation.

While the court said it recognized the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI) community's history of discrimination and marginalization, it clarified that it is only through actual facts and "real adversarial presentations" that the high court can fully weigh the implications and consequences of the plea's declarations.

The same ruling also cited Falcis and his co-counsels, Atty. Darwin Angeles, Atty. Keisha Trina Guanko, and Atty. Christopher Ryan Maranan for indirect contempt.

"To forget the bare rudiments of court procedure and decorum-- or worse-- to purport to know them, but really, only to exploit them by way of propaganda -- and then, to jump headlong into the taxing endeavor of constitutional litigation is a contemptous betrayal of the high standards of the legal profession," the court said in its statement.

In 2018, Falcis was also cited in contempt for wearing an improper attire during his case's preliminary conference at the Supreme Court. An oral argument on his proposal was held in June.

CNN Philippines' Anjo Alimario and Alyssa Rola contributed to this report.