Supreme Court thumbs down petition for same-sex marriage

September 3, 2019

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to allow same sex marriage in the Philippines.

Public Information Chief Brian Keith Hosaka said the petition filed by  Jesus Nicardo Falcis III seeking to declare certain provisions of the Family Code as unconstitutional to allow same-sex marriage violated the hierarchy of courts and failure to raise an actual justiciable controversy.

The petitioner himself has no legal standing, added Hosaka

Falcis' petition, filed in 2015, sought nullification of Articles 1 and 2 of the Family Code as well as Articles 46 (4) and 55 (6) of the same law.

Articles 1 and 2 limited marriages between man and woman, while Articles 46(4) and 55 (6) mentions lesbianism or homosexuality as grounds for annulment and legal separation.

In a decision by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC stressed that it "recognized protracted history of discrimination and marginalization faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, queer, intersex and other gender and sexual minorities (LGBTQI+) community, along with their still ongoing struggle for equality."

But the high court said LGBTQI+ fight for their right against discrimination for their choice of relationships and “official recognition of their partnerships may, for now, be a matter that should be addressed to Congress."  DMS