be free and believe

8/12/2019 Be Free and Believe

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Be free and believe,

Believe and be free

(Estrada v Escritor A.M. No. P-02-1651)

Reported by: Rose Kareen Defensor, LLB1E

While man is finite, he seeks and subscribes to the Infinite. Respondent Soledad Escritor

once again stands before the Court invoking her religious freedom and her Jehovah God in a

bid to save her family united without the benefit of legal marriage - and livelihood.

FACTS

In a sworn-letter complaint dated July 27, 2000, complainant Alejandro Estrada

requested Judge Jose F. Caoibes Jr., presiding judge of Branch 253, Regional Trial Court of

Las Pias City, for an investigation of respondent Soledad Escritor, court interpreter in

said court, for living with a man not her husband, and having borne a child within this

live-in arrangement.

Estrada believes that Escritor is committing an immoral act that tarnishes the

image of the court, thus she should not be allowed to remain employed therein as it

might appear that the court condones her act. Consequently, respondent was charged

with committing "disgraceful and immoral conduct under Book V, Title I, Chapter VI,

Sec. 46(b)(5) of the Revised Administrative Code.

For Jehovahs Witnesses, the Declaration of Pledging Witnesses allows members of

the congregation who have been abandoned by their spouses to enter into marital

relations. The Declaration thus makes the resulting union moral and binding within the

congregation all over the world except in countries where divorce is allowed. As laid out

by the tenets of their faith, the Jehovahs congregation requires that at the time the

declarations are executed, the couple cannot secure the civil authorities approval of the

marital relationship because of legal impediments.

Only couples who have been baptized and in good standing may execute the

Declaration, which requires the approval of the elders of the congregation. As a matter of

practice, the marital status of the declarants and their respective spouses commission of

adultery are investigated before the declarations are executed. Escritor and Quilapios

declarations were executed in the usual and approved form prescribed by the Jehovahs

Witnesses, approved by elders of the congregation where the declarations were executed,

and recorded in the Watch Tower Central Office.


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Moreover, the Jehovahs congregation believes that once all legal impediments for

the couple are lifted, the validity of the declarations ceases, and the couple should legalize

their union.

ISSUE

Whether or not respondent should be found guilty of the administrative charge of

"gross and immoral conduct."

RULING

Our Constitution adheres to the benevolent neutrality approach that gives room

for accommodation of religious exercises as required by the Free Exercise Clause.Benevolent neutrality recognizes that government must pursue its secular goals

and interests but at the same time strives to uphold religious liberty to the greatest extent

possible within flexible constitutional limits. It still remains to be seen if respondent is

entitled to such doctrine as the state has not been afforded the chance to demonstrate the

compelling state interest of prohibiting the act of respondent.

Thus, the Solicitor General in arguing that respondent should be held

administratively liable as the arrangement she had was "illegal per se because, byuniversally recognized standards, it is inherently or by its very nature bad, improper,

immoral and contrary to good conscience, he failed to appreciate that benevolent

neutrality could allow for accommodation of morality based on religion, provided it does

not offend compelling state interests.

In view whereof, the instant administrative complaint is dismissed

APPLICATION TO NATURAL LAWIn this particular case and under these distinct circumstances, respondent

Escritors conjugal arrangement cannot be penalized as she has made out a case for

exemption from the law based on her fundamental right to freedom of religion.

The fact that the court recognizes that state interests must be upheld in order that

freedoms - including religious freedom - may be enjoyed, had given a significant change

in Escritors life as a member of her religion and as a member of the society.In the area of religious exercise as a preferred freedom, however, man stands

accountable to an authority higher than the state, and so the state interest sought to be

upheld must be so compelling that its violation will erode the very fabric of the state that


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will also protect the freedom. In the absence of a showing that such state interest exists,

man must be allowed to subscribe to the Infinite.

JUSTIFICATORY USE OF NATURAL LAW

The Supreme Court in this case applied natural law in its justificatory use.

The

natural law is written on the heart of all human beings; therefore some decisions of the

Supreme Court may be accepted as true or right simply through the exercise of reason.

Even if the issue therein is frowned upon by the society, the natural law justifies the

intention of the administrators of the law which is to keep the respect among religions

and to uphold the freedom of religion. Hence, the natural law is a valuable foundation for

moral reasoning, where believers and non-believers can meet and build agreement.In the case at bar, liberal thinkers, who considers the SC decision as acceptable

and the issue does not necessarily affect the society, might come into disagreement with

conventional thinkers who, on the other hand, believe that the decision of the highest

court is inappropriate because it is an obvious immorality that a woman living with a man

not her husband is still upheld. Moreover, deep disagreement in the use of natural law

creates real intellectual problems. This is where the Justificatory use of natural law comes

in. The decision was justified through reasoning.Can we expect people to give their consent to the rule of natural law, as a basis for

State enforced social policy, when serious scrutiny of the natural law emphasizes our

deficiencies? Or should we concentrate on pursuing the sharp verdict of the law upon the

human heart so that all violators vanish and the earth will be a perfect place to live?

be free and believe

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