Those tired of religious meddling in state affairs, from policy-making to appointments and promotions in both the executive and judicial branches, should be cheering on President Duterte.
After recently invoking his freedom of expression, the President over the weekend invoked the principle of separation of church and state in his continuing tirades against God.
I’m not sure though that believers in this principle, including agnostics, atheists and lapsed Catholics, want this President to be leading the charge. For one, his ire is clearly directed only at the Catholic clergy, and even among them, it seems he’s OK with those who don’t criticize his policies. So it’s not really about upholding a constitutional principle or commitment to a secular state.
For another, he hasn’t matched his verbal abuse of God or the concept of a Creator with any reform, proposed or underway, to insulate the many aspects of governance from influence peddling or muscle flexing by religious interests. Such reforms, especially in the system of appointments and promotions, would cement his avowed adherence to the separation of church and state.
And then there’s the story that he himself revealed and keeps retelling, about being sexually molested by a priest at the Ateneo de Davao High School. The priest is probably burning now in the fires of hell, but not all members of the Catholic clergy are sinners who prey on high school boys.
Everything is personal for this President. So when he rails against a “stupid” God, people inevitably suspect that it’s not a fight over principle; he just wants to give his high school tormentor’s organization a long-delayed comeuppance.
Consistency would also help. While full implementation of the reproductive health law is part of his socio-economic agenda (it’s still in limbo though), he says he’s against the divorce law. This is from a guy whose first marriage has been annulled, now lives with a partner and claims to have two girlfriends.
And after declaring last year before the LGBT community in his home city of Davao that he’s for same-sex marriage, his spokesman recently announced that Duterte is for same-sex “union.”
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What’s the difference? Jesus Falcis III, the 31-year-old lawyer who spearheaded the petition asking the Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage, thinks “marriage” has a religious connotation – and consequently political implications – that can be avoided with the word “union.”
Falcis received what was tantamount to a lecture from the Supreme Court during oral arguments on his petition last month. He was told to take the case to the lower courts first because at issue are questions of fact.
He was also advised to just wait for congressional action on a House bill sponsored by the Speaker himself, legalizing same-sex union.
Even if the SC tosses out his petition, Falcis seems happy that it has stirred public discourse and raised awareness. In his alma mater the University of the Philippines in Diliman, the LGBT community is growing, and millennials accounted for a large number of the participants at the recent annual Metro Manila Pride march and festival.
Falcis is elated by the spike in attendance at this year’s march, estimated at around 25,000. Growing public acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community spurred him to file the petition before the SC.
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Even if Falcis’ petition would meet procedural requirements, however, the SC buzz is that the justices are cool to his main argument, which is equal protection under the law. Falcis notes that the Constitution is silent on gender in describing marriage and the family, whose cohesion is protected by the state as a matter of principle.
The Family Code, however, describes marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Falcis counters that a law cannot go higher than the Constitution.
Buhay party list Rep. Lito Atienza, representing the other side of this controversy, told “The Chiefs” last week on Cignal TV’s One News that the nation should just wait for the SC to resolve the issue. Falcis, who faced us on the same TV show, would not hazard a guess on how the SC might vote.
Opponents of same-sex marriage concede that the equal protection clause in the Constitution does not mention gender in marriage, which is defined under the Family Code. But such definitions of terms cannot all be included in the Constitution, the opponents point out. So the Family Code can be deemed as the implementing rules and regulations of the provisions on marriage and the family under the Charter. And the Code, they say, is not inconsistent with the Constitution.
Falcis, a self-proclaimed atheist, notes that opposition to same-sex marriage is driven largely by religious beliefs. So he probably knows that most if not all of the current SC members belong to a generation for whom the Christian faith plays a key role.
Even a push for same-sex “union” by the President who hates priests but claims to have “an abiding faith” in God may not be enough to sway this SC, which sat on the RH law for a long time.
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Religion is also seen as the principal factor behind Senate opposition to divorce. Survey results showing unusually high public support for divorce prompted the House of Representatives to finally pass the divorce bill last year. Surely it also helped that the House Speaker wants his marriage dissolved.
Now the bill is in Senate limbo, not just because the chamber’s new president is an ultra conservative, but also partly because the Speaker doesn’t have a lot of friends in the Senate, and yes, because of religious beliefs.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, principal author of the absolute divorce bill in the House, is not giving up, believing there are enough progressive senators who will approve the measure.
Shepherding these dramatic reforms in Philippine society would be easier and less divisive if the President of the republic could refrain from trying to pulverize the Catholic clergy and maligning the Christian God.
Such attacks can turn even non-practicing Catholics into defenders of the faith. It makes the Church and its advocacies stronger – something that President Duterte presumably does not want.