THE Office of the Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a controversial petition seeking to allow same-sex marriage in the country.
Solicitor General Florin Hilbay made the revelation during his public interview with the Judicial and Bar Council on Friday for his nomination for associate justice position at the SC to be vacated next week by the early retirement of Associate Justice Martin Villarama Jr.
“We already filed a comment seeking dismissal of that petition. I believe, according to the rules, that petition ought to be dismissed,” Hilbay told JBC members.
According to him, there is no merit in the petition filed by lawyer Jesus Nicardo Falcis III in May last year seeking to nullify and declare as unconstitutional provisions of the Family Code that laid down the legal framework for the ban on same-sex marriage.
Hilbay was also grilled about his opinions on marriage.
JBC member and retired SC Justice Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez inquired about Hilbay’s book entitled “Unplugging the Constitution,” which covered his pragmatic perspective of marriage.
“I tell my students one does not need marriage to validate one’s feelings. The fundamental value of belonging – that can extend beyond the marital boundaries,” said Hilbay, who is single at 41.
“I don’t get happy because they are married. I get happy because they are in a relationship. Marriage is just a public commitment for them to live as husband and wife,” he added.
The 77-year-old Sandoval questioned Hilbay’s view. Citing Section 12, Article II of the Constitution, she said: “It’s my opinion marriage is the foundation of family.”
However, the Solicitor General clarified that his position is philosophical and that he does not intend to impose his belief on others.
“I do accept the reality of marriage as a legal foundation regardless of my views. As solicitor-general, I consider myself entirely faithful to the Constitution. I don’t have any right to impose any personal views I have…”
“As a matter of law, I recognize that society considers it an institution. A justice of the Supreme Court would be committing an impeachable offense if he disrespects that,” the chief state lawyer said.
Hilbay added that he has no plans to go out and campaign for delegalization of marriage. The top government lawyer also stressed that he is living a happy life being single.
“I can devote my time to my work with enough space for things I consider important: family, music, arts, philosophy. I have no reason to be sad. In my way, I have been very lucky with what I have experienced. The past two years have been unbelievably exciting for me,” Hilbay said.
Hilbay is among the 16 nominees for the imminent vacancy in the SC to be left by the early retirement of Villarama on Jan. 16.
Apart from him, six other aspirants faced the JBC: CA Presiding Justice Andres Reyes Jr., Associate Justice Jose Reyes Jr. and Stephen Cruz, Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alex Quiroz, former Commission on Audit chairperson Maria Gracia Pulido-Tan and Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 90 presiding judge Reynaldo Daway.
Last Thursday, the JBC interviewed nine nominees for the SC post: Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas, Rosmari Carandang, Mariflor Punzalan-Castillo; Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang and Associate Justice Maria Cristina Cornejo, Justice Secretary Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon Gerard Mosquera, Quezon Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption party-list Rep. Cinchona Cruz-Gonzales and former University of Manila law dean Joe Santos Bisquera.
After the interviews, the seven-member JBC will come up with a shortlist by next month, which means President Benigno Aquino III may be able to name his sixth appointee to the high tribunal before the period covered by the election ban on midnight appointments.
However, appointments to SC are exempted from the ban after the high court’s 2010 ruling for the vacancy in the retirement of then Chief Justice Reynato Puno, which President Aquino had questioned.
The seven-member JBC is the constitutional body tasked to accept nominations and applications, screen and come up with a short list of nominees for vacancies in the judiciary and the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Constitution requires a justice of the SC to be a natural-born citizen, at least 40 years old, with at least 15 years of experience as judge of a lower court or lawyer. The law also requires that the magistrate “must be a person of proven competence, integrity, probity, and independence.”
Villarama can actually retire on April 14 next year when he reaches mandatory retirement age of 70, but he asked to avail of optional retirement effective Jan. 16 due to “deteriorating health condition.”
His condition was brought about by his double-knee metal implantation in 2013 and his cataract operation in 2014.
Of the 15 current justices of the high court, five were appointed by Aquino – Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Associate Justices Bienvenido Reyes, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Marvic Leonen and Francis Jardeleza.