What is Law?

• A rule of conduct
• A whole collection of established rules
• A bill passed by a legislature

Lady Justice

Photo by Deval Kulshrestha / CC BY-SA 4.0

 What is Moral Law?
• Defined as kind of law which sets the standards of good and
commendable conduct.
• The distinction between right and wrong behavior like The Ten
Commandments.
 Attributes of Moral Law
• Subjectivity • Practicability
• Objectivity • Independence
• Liberty • Immutability
• Fitness • Unity
• Universality • Equity
• Impartiality • Exclusiveness
• Justice
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003
I. FACTS

• ALEJANDRO ESTRADA, complainant,

• SOLEDAD S. ESCRITOR, respondent.

• Letter-complaint dated July 27, 2000, complainant Alejandro Estrada wrote to Judge Jose
F. Caoibes, Jr., presiding judge of Branch 253, Regional Trial Court of Las Piñas City,
requesting for an investigation of rumors that respondent Soledad Escritor, court
interpreter in said court, is living with a man not her husband.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003

• Estrada is not personally related either to Escritor or her partner.

• Respondent Escritor testified that when she entered the judiciary in 1999, she was
already a widow, her husband having died in 1998.
• She admitted that she has been living with Luciano Quilapio, Jr. without the benefit of
marriage for twenty years
• In fact, after ten years of living together, she executed on July 28, 1991 a "Declaration of
Pledging Faithfulness.“ as a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watch Tower and
Bible Tract Society.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003

II. ISSUE
Whether or not respondent should be found guilty of the administrative charge of "gross
and immoral conduct." To resolve this issue, it is necessary to determine the sub-issue of
whether or not respondent's right to religious freedom should carve out an exception from
the prevailing jurisprudence on illicit relations for which government employees are held
administratively liable.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003
III. APPLICABLE LAWS
Respondent is charged with committing "gross and immoral conduct" under Book V, Title I,
Chapter VI, Sec. 46(b)(5) of the Revised Administrative Code which provides, viz:
Sec. 46. Discipline: General Provisions. - (a) No officer or employee in the Civil Service
shall be suspended or dismissed except for cause as provided by law and after due process.
(b) The following shall be grounds for disciplinary action:
(5) Disgraceful and immoral conduct
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003
III. APPLICABLE LAWS
Not represented by counsel, respondent, in layman's terms, invokes the religious beliefs and
practices and moral standards of her religion, the Jehovah's Witnesses, in asserting that her
conjugal arrangement with a man not her legal husband does not constitute disgraceful and
immoral conduct for which she should be held administratively liable. While not articulated
by respondent, she invokes religious freedom under Article III, Section 5 of the
Constitution, which provides, viz:
• Sec. 5. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test
shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003
IV. Application of the Religion Clauses to the Case at Bar:
A. The Religion Clauses and Morality
• The Court has ruled that government employees engaged in illicit relations are guilty of
"disgraceful and immoral conduct" for which he/she may be held administratively
liable. In these cases, there was not one dissent to the majority's ruling that their
conduct was immoral.
• Justice Vitug dwell more on the standards of morality than on the religion clauses in
deciding the instant case. A discussion on morality is in order. At base, morality refers to,
in Socrates' words, "how we ought to live" and why.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003

• "(a)s a rule . . . moral laws are justified only to the extent that they directly or indirectly
serve to protect the interests of the larger society. It is only where their rigid application
would serve to obliterate the value which society seeks to uphold, or defeat the purpose
for which they are enacted would, a departure be justified.“ – Mr. Justice Vitug
B. Application of Benevolent Neutrality and the Compelling State Interest Test
• Respondent's sincerity in her religious belief.
• Respondent appears to be sincere in her religious belief and practice and is not merely
using the "Declaration of Pledging Faithfulness" to avoid punishment for immorality.
 ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, AM O-02-1651; August 4, 2003

IN VIEW WHEREOF, the case is REMANDED to the Office of the Court

Administrator. The Solicitor General is ordered to intervene in the case
where it will be given the opportunity (a) to examine the sincerity and
centrality of respondent's claimed religious belief and practice; (b) to present
evidence on the state's "compelling interest" to override respondent's religious
belief and practice; and (c) to show that the means the state adopts in pursuing
its interest is the least restrictive to respondent's religious freedom. The
rehearing should be concluded thirty (30) days from the Office of the Court
Administrator's receipt of this Decision.
ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

• The only task that the Court is left to do is to determine whether the
evidence presented by the State proves its more compelling interest. This
issue involves a pure question of fact.
• “determining whether SOLEDAD S. ESCRITOR is entitled to
exemption”
• From Office of Court Administrator and with transmittal of Hearing
officer’s report submitted by the Office of Solicitor General, the case
moved to Supreme Court.
ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

• (a) to examine the sincerity and centrality of respondent's claimed

religious belief and practice: the OSG acknowledged that religious
belief and practice of ESCRITOR are no doubt.
• (b) to present evidence on the state's "compelling interest" to override
respondent's religious belief and practice: OSG failed to demonstrate
evidence which could limit ESCRITOR’s right to religious freedom.
ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

• OSG: argues that marriage and the family (the Constitution and the
Family Code-crime of concubinage) are so crucial to the stability and peace
of the nation that the conjugal arrangement should not be recognized.
• Court: The free exercise of religion is specifically articulated as one of the
fundamental rights in our Constitution.
• Hence, it is not enough to contend that the state’s interest is important,
because our Constitution itself holds the right to religious freedom sacred.
ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

• (c) to show that the means the state adopts in pursuing its interest is the
least restrictive to respondent's religious freedom.: the OSG failed to
prove this element.
ESTRADA VS. ESCRITOR, A.M. No. P-02-1651 June 22, 2006

• Thus, the Court find that 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.
• IN VIEW WHEREOF, the instant administrative complaint is
dismissed.
 References

• https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/law
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law
• https://mclaw08.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/moral-law/
• https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-are-some-examples-of-moral-law.html
• https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2003/aug2003/am_p_02_1651_2003.html
THANK YOU