Falcis: Constitution does not say marriage only between man and woman

MANILA, Philippines — The 1987 Constitution does not dictate that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, petitioner-lawyer Jesus Falcis III, argued before the Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court held its oral arguments on Falcis bid to challenge provisions of the Family Code of the Philippines and allow same-sex marriages in the country.

RELATED: Live blog: SC tackles same-sex marriage

In his opening statement, Falcis stressed that “nothing in Article XV or other provisions of the constitution limits the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. But something in the constitution commands that marriage under the Family Code be extended to lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender couples.”

Article XV refers to “The Family.”  According to Section 2 of that article: “Marriage as an inviolable social institution is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.”

Falcis is asking the Supreme Court to declare provisions in the Family Code that state that only marriages between a man and a woman are valid as unconstitutional.

He cited the case of petition-intervenors Cresencio Agbayani and Marlon Felipe, who have been together for 12 years but, under the eyes of the law, are “strangers” to each other.

This is because they were denied of their right to marry, Falcis said.

“And they are growing old...  They worry about a lot of things married couples don’t worry about – does my partner have a right to my government benefits? Will my partner be allowed in the hospital to make decisions for me? Does my partner have the legal right – and duty – to make funeral arrangements for me?” Falcis added.

He stressed that the provisions of the Family Code deprives the couple their right to marry “without substantive due process, denies the petitioners of the equal protection of the laws, and violates the religious freedom of petitioners.”

Outside the SC, members and supporters of the LGBT community held a rally in support of the petitioners.

Student Leader Vince Liban from the University of the Philippines said: “We are all in this because the community stands to benefit from the nullification of these backward and discriminating laws.”

Solicitor General Jose Calida, in a chance interview before the start of the oral arguments, stressed that the 1987 Constitution needs to be amendment to allow same-sex marriage.

Calida will defend the government position in the debates. The oral arguments at the SC continue as of this posting.