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THE PARTIES
for the right moment to make her move. From that night, the two became a
couple.
5. On March 5, 2015, the couple went to the Office of the Civil Registrar of
Quezon City to apply for a marriage license and to submit the required
documents, Certificate of Attendance in a pre marriage counseling, family
planning and responsible parenthood seminar, CTC, Barangay Clearance, 2
Valid IDs, recent 1x1 photos and the marriage license application form).
6. When the Quezon City Civil Registrar examined the documents presented
and observed that the applicants were of the same gender, she immediately
wrote a letter denying the application for a marriage license on the ground
that both applicants were female.
8. Since the Quezon City Civil Registrar was about to retire and did not want to
be a respondent in any administrative or criminal case that would cause her
retirement benefits to be withheld while the case was pending, she decided
to reconsider her earlier decision and issue the application for a marriage
license sought by Monique and Joey.
9. Armed with a marriage license, the couple joined the mass wedding
organized by the PAG IBIG Fund every year. The organizer included
Monique and Joey in the list of couples to be married after verifying that the
marriage license they submitted was genuine and validly issued and that all
the supporting documents were complete and in order. Due to the large
number of couples getting married, the organizers failed to notice that
Monique and Joey were of same gender.
11.Three months after the wedding, Monique and Joey needed to submit a
certified true copy of their marriage certificate in connection with their
application for a US visa. When they went to the Philippine Statistics
Authority to obtain a Certified True Copy of their marriage certificate, they
were surprised to learn that the PSA did not have a copy of their marriage
certificate. Upon further inquiry, they discovered that the new Quezon City
Registrar, who replaced the one who had issued their marriage license after
the latters retirement, had refused to register their marriage after finding
that they were of the same gender.
12.Monique and Joey then filed a Petition for Mandamus with the Quezon City
Regional Trial Court to compel the Quezon City Civil Registrar to register
their marriage certificate. After due proceedings, the Quezon City Regional
Trial Court rendered a decision, granting the Petition and directing the
Quezon City Civil Registrar to register the marriage certificate of Monique
and Joey and to furnish the P.S.A. with a copy of the same.
13.Aggrieved by the Decision, the Quezon City Civil Registrar sought the
assistance of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to question the
Regional Trial Court of Quezon City on pure questions of law. Hence, the
instant petition before the Supreme Court.
I.
14.No, same sex marriage is not valid. Under the Family Code of the
Philippines, the law requires that marriage is 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.
DISCUSSION
15.Same sex marriage in the Philippines is not legally permissible under the
Constitution, the Family Code of the Philippines and existing jurisprudence
laid down by the Supreme Court. Contracting parties must be of different
sex. Marriage is a union founded on the distinction of sex. The law likewise
provides that the contracting parties must be a MALE and FEMALE. This
particular requirement appears to be for emphasis purposes only for even in
its absence, the phrase contracting parties could not have included within
its ambit persons of the same sex.1 This is evidence by the fact that the New
Family Code as well as the Civil Code are replete with words of
heterosexual import such as husband and wife, man and woman and
father and mother. In fact, the very first article of the Family Code
explicitly provides that marriage is a special contract of permanent union
between a man and a woman. Moreover, it is quite unrealistic and even
inconceivable to think that the term contracting parties as used in our
marriage laws could have been intended by the framers in a different light. 2
and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the
property relations during the marriage with the limits provided by this code.4
CONCLUSION
18.As such the marriage between Monique and Joey is void ab initio in blatant
violation of the Constitution, the Family Code of the Philippines and
existing jurisprudences. Same sex marriage is not recognize in Philippine
jurisdiction and Republic Act No. 10743 does not apply in this case because
the fundamental law of the land and substantial laws prohibits marriages
between same gender.
19.The duties and functions of the Quezon City Civil Registrar is discretionary
in nature and not ministerial to determine if such marriage license complies
with the law or not. Thus, mandamus is not the proper remedy as provided
by law
RELIEF
a. The Marriage License issued by the Quezon City Civil Registrar in favor of
Monique Santos and Joey Dela Cruz on March 16, 2015 be declared NULL
and VOID.
b. The Marriage Certificate dated May 05,2015 between Monique Santos and
Joey Dela Cruz be declared NULL and VOID.
c. The decision dated December 07, 2015 of Quezon City Regional Trial Court
be reversed and set aside and a new decision be rendered dismissing the
petition.
Signature of Counsel