Case Summary (A.M. No. P-02-1651)
Religious Belief and Conjugal Arrangement
As a Jehovah’s Witness, respondent invoked her congregation’s “Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness,” an internal document allowing members abandoned by spouses to form a morally binding union pending civil impediments. Executed on July 28, 1991 and approved by congregation elders, the pledge remains valid until all legal impediments to marriage are removed.
Initial Supreme Court Ruling on Free Exercise Framework
On August 4, 2003, the Supreme Court held that Philippine religion clauses reflect a benevolent neutrality or accommodation approach and that free exercise claims must be evaluated under the strictest standard—the compelling state interest test. It remanded for further factual development regarding the sincerity of belief, the State’s compelling interest, and the least-restrictive means.
Law of the Case Doctrine
The Court deemed its prior determinations on interpretive approach and applicable test final under the “law of the case” doctrine. No motion for reconsideration had been filed, making the framework definitive for resolution.
United States Antecedents and Jurisprudence
The Opinion traced Old World church-state conflicts to illustrate two U.S. constitutional strains: strict separation/neutrality (via Jefferson’s “wall of separation”) and benevolent neutrality/accommodation (via Williams’s protective wall). It reviewed U.S. Supreme Court decisions—from Everson and Zorach to Sherbert, Yoder, and Smith—highlighting the shift from mandatory exemptions (Sherbert-Yoder) to denial of judicial exemptions in Smith.
Philippine Constitutional and Jurisprudential Context
Unlike the U.S., Philippine Constitutions (1935, 1973, 1987) contain explicit provisions mandating religious accommodations (e.g., tax exemptions for church property, optional religious instruction), reflecting an intent to adopt benevolent neutrality. PH jurisprudence had granted both mandatory (American Bible Society v. Manila; Ebralinag v. Schools Division) and permissive (Victoriano v. Elizalde Rope Workers) accommodations from generally applicable laws.
Compelling State Interest Test under Philippine Law
Adopting benevolent neutrality, the Court reaffirmed that free exercise claims to conduct-based exemptions must satisfy:
- A burden on sincere religious exercise.
- A showing that the State’s interest is sufficiently compelling.
- Proof that the State used the least restrictive means to achieve that interest.
Application of the Compelling Interest Test
The Solicitor General conceded sincerity but failed to prove any concrete “gravest abuses, endangering paramount int
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Procedural History
- Complainant Alejandro Estrada filed a sworn‐letter complaint on July 27, 2000, requesting an investigation of respondent Soledad S. Escritor, court interpreter at RTC Branch 253, Las Piñas City.
- Estrada alleged Escritor’s “immoral” conduct in living with a man not her husband and bearing his child.
- Respondent was charged under Book V, Title I, Chapter VI, Sec. 46(b)(5) of the Revised Administrative Code for “disgraceful and immoral conduct.”
- On August 4, 2003, the Supreme Court remanded the case to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA) to allow the State to present evidence of a compelling interest to override respondent’s religious freedom.
- On June 22, 2006, an En Banc Resolution dismissed the complaint after applying the compelling state interest test.
Facts and Background
- Respondent Escritor, a widow since 1998, had cohabited for over 20 years with Luciano D. Quilapio, Jr., who was still married to another woman.
- The couple has a son born of this live‐in arrangement.
- Both are members in good standing of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
- On July 28, 1991, they executed a “Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness,” approved by congregation elders and recorded by their central office.
- The sect’s tenets permit members abandoned by their spouses to enter into “marital relations” through this Declaration, making their union moral and binding within the congregation.
Constitutional and Statutory Framework
- Article III, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, forbidding laws respecting an establishment or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
- The Revised Administrative Code, Book V, Title I, Sec. 46(b)(5), sanctions “disgraceful and immoral conduct” by public officers and employees.
- Penal provisions on adultery (Art. 333) and concubinage (Art. 334) define cohabitation with a married person as criminal.
The 2003 Remand Decision
- The Court held that Philippine jurisprudence follows a benevolent neutrality or accommodation approach to the religion clauses, not absolute separation.