ALEJANDRO ESTRADA, Complainant,vs.

SOLEDAD S. ESCRITOR, Respondent.A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

PUNO, J.:“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.”

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

FACTS

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

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 Piñas 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 v Escritor A.M. No. P-02-1651

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.

FACTS

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

Soledad Escritor

Luciano Quilapio, Jr.

Soledad Escritor

Soledad Escritor

FACTS

Declaration of Pledging Witnesses

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

FACTS

For Jehovah’s 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 Jehovah’s 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.

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

FACTS

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 Quilapio’s declarations were executed in the usual and approved form prescribed by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, approved by elders of the congregation where the declarations were executed, and recorded in the Watch Tower Central Office.

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

FACTS

Moreover, the Jehovah’s 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.

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

ISSUE

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

ISSUE

Whether or not respondent should be found guilty of the administrative charge of "gross and immoral conduct."

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

RULING

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

Our Constitution adheres to the benevolent neutrality approach that gives room for accommodation of religious exercises as required by the Free Exercise Clause.

RULING

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.

RULING

Thus, the Solicitor General in arguing that respondent should be held administratively liable as the arrangement she had was "illegal per se because, by universally 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.

RULING

In view whereof, the instant administrative complaint is dismissed

RULING

APPLICATION TO NATURAL

LAW

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

In this particular case and under these distinct circumstances, respondent Escritor’s 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.

APPLICATION TO NATURAL LAW

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 Escritor’s life as a member of her religion and as a member of the society.

APPLICATION TO NATURAL LAW

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 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.

APPLICATION TO NATURAL LAW

man stands accountable to an authority higher than the state

man must be allowed to subscribe to the Infinite.

APPLICATION TO NATURAL LAW

Be free and believe,

Believe and be freeEstrada v Escritor A.M. No. P-02-1651