Third of four parts
The Supreme Court then ruled that the labor tribunals’ respective conclusions that Ms. Leus’s pregnancy is a “disgraceful or immoral conduct” were arrived at arbitrarily. It explained that it finds no substantial evidence to support the aforementioned conclusion arrived at by the labor tribunals. The fact of the petitioner’s pregnancy out of wedlock, without more, is not enough to characterize the petitioner’s conduct as disgraceful or immoral. There must be substantial evidence to establish that premarital sexual relations and, consequently, pregnancy out of wedlock, are, indeed, considered disgraceful or immoral.
The totality of the circumstances surrounding the conduct alleged to be disgraceful or immoral must be assessed against the prevailing norms of conduct. In Chua-Qua v. Clave, the Court stressed that to constitute immorality, the circumstances of each particular case must be holistically considered and evaluated in light of the prevailing norms of conduct and applicable laws. Otherwise stated, it is not the totality of the circumstances surrounding the conduct per se that determines whether the same is disgraceful or immoral, but the conduct that is generally accepted by society as respectable or moral. If the conduct does not conform to what society generally views as respectable or moral, then the conduct is considered as disgraceful or immoral. Tersely put, substantial evidence must be presented, which would establish that a particular conduct, viewed in light of the prevailing norms of conduct, is considered disgraceful or immoral.
Thus, the determination of whether a conduct is disgraceful or immoral involves a two-step process: first, a consideration of the totality of the circumstances surrounding the conduct; and second, an assessment of the said circumstances vis-à-vis the prevailing norms of conduct, i.e., what the society generally considers moral and respectable.
That the petitioner was employed by a Catholic educational institution per se does not absolutely determine whether her pregnancy out of wedlock is disgraceful or immoral. There is still a necessity to determine whether the petitioner’s pregnancy out of wedlock is considered disgraceful or immoral in accordance with the prevailing norms of conduct. Public and secular morality should determine the prevailing norms of conduct, not religious morality. Determining what the prevailing norms of conduct are considered disgraceful or immoral is not an easy task. An individual’s perception of what is moral or respectable is a confluence of a myriad of influences, such as religion, family, social status and a cacophony of others. In this regard, the Court’s ratiocination in Estrada v. Escritor is instructive.
In Estrada, an administrative case against a court interpreter charged with disgraceful and immoral conduct, the Court stressed that in determining whether a particular conduct can be considered as disgraceful and immoral, the distinction between public and secular morality on the one hand, and religious morality, on the other, should be kept in mind. Accordingly, when the law speaks of immoral or necessarily, disgraceful conduct, it pertains to public and secular morality; it refers to those conducts which are proscribed because they are detrimental to conditions upon which depend the existence and progress of human society. Thus, in Anonymous v. Radam, an administrative case involving a court utility worker, likewise, charged with disgraceful and immoral conduct, applying the doctrines laid down in Estrada, the Court held that: “For a particular conduct to constitute ‘disgraceful and immoral’ behavior under civil-service laws, it must be regulated on account of the concerns of public and secular morality. It cannot be judged based on personal bias, specifically those colored by particular mores. Nor should it be grounded on ‘cultural’ values not convincingly demonstrated to have been recognized in the realm of public policy expressed in the Constitution and the laws. At the same time, the constitutionally guaranteed rights [such as the right to privacy] should be observed to the extent that they protect behavior that may be frowned upon by the majority.
Under these tests, two things may be concluded from the fact that an unmarried woman gives birth out of wedlock:
(1) if the father of the child is himself unmarried, the woman is not ordinarily administratively liable for disgraceful and immoral conduct. It may be a not-so-ideal situation and may cause complications for both mother and child but it does not give cause for administrative sanction. There is no law which penalizes an unmarried mother under those circumstances by reason of her sexual conduct or proscribes the consensual sexual activity between two unmarried persons. Neither does the situation contravene any fundamental state policy, as expressed in the Constitution, a document that accommodates various belief systems irrespective of dogmatic origins.
(2) if the father of the child born out of wedlock is himself married to a woman other than the mother, then there is a cause for administrative sanction against either the father or the mother. In such a case, the “disgraceful and immoral conduct” consists of having extramarital relations with a married person. The sanctity of marriage is constitutionally recognized and, likewise, affirmed by our statutes as a special contract of permanent union. Accordingly, judicial employees have been sanctioned for their dalliances with married persons or for their own betrayals of the marital vow of fidelity.”
This column should not be taken as a legal advice applicable to any case, as each case is unique and should be construed in light of the attending circumstances surrounding such particular case.
Lawyer Toni Umali is the current assistant secretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs of the Department of Education (DepEd). He is licensed to practice law not only in the Philippines, but also in the state of California and some federal courts in the US after passing the California State Bar Examinations in 2004. He has served as a legal consultant to several legislators and local chief executives. As education assistant secretary, he was instrumental in the passage of the K to 12 law and the issuance of its implementing rules and regulations. He is also the alternate spokesman of the DepEd. To be concluded
1 comment
Really enjoying this series, Asec. Umali. Looking forward to the conclusion.