The Family Code defines marriage in Article 1, as a “special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code.”
With the worldwide mixed reactions to the US Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage, there are speculations that it may create a worldwide trend.
However, a judicial precedent was made in the case of Rommel Jacinto Dantes Silverio [G.R. No. 174689: Oct. 22,2007).
Silverio filed a civil action to correct the entry in his birth certificate recording his sex as male to female, because he had undergone complete sex change, and is now a woman.
In the decision, the Supreme Court asked: “When is a man a man, and when is a woman a woman? In particular, does the law recognize the changes made by a physician using scalpel, drugs, and counseling with regard to a person’s sex? May a person successfully petition for a change of name and sex appearing in the birth certificate to reflect the result of a sex reassignment surgery?”
At the level of the Trial Court, the petition granted was in consonance with the principles of justice and equity. It believed that allowing the petition would cause no harm, injury, or prejudice to anyone.
Citing that the ruling was wrong, the Supreme Court denied the petition, ruling: “The changes sought by Petitioner will have serious and wide-ranging legal and public policy consequences. First, even the Trial Court itself found that the petition was but Petitioner’s first step towards his eventual marriage to his male fiancé. However, marriage, one of the most sacred social institutions, is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman. One of its essential requisites is the legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female. To grant the changes sought by Petitioner will substantially reconfigure, and greatly alter the laws on marriage and family relations. It will allow the union of a man with another man who has undergone sex reassignment (a male-to-female post-operative transsexual).
Second, there are various laws which apply particularly to women such as the provisions of the Labor Code on employment of women, certain felonies under the Revised Penal Code, and the presumption of survivorship in case of calamities under Rule 131 of the Rules of Court, among others. These laws underscore the public policy in relation to women which could be substantially affected if Petitioner’s petition were to be granted”.
For now, that is the way it is.
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Author’s email: [email protected]
