Exercise 'greater empathy, inclusivity' in crafting marital laws, lawmakers asked

A Supreme Court (SC) justice underscored the “disconnect” between existing laws on marriage and the “lived realities” of many Filipinos, and urged lawmakers for “greater empathy and inclusivity” in crafting laws.

- By REY G. PANALIGAN

Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen said: “Our current law, including its dominant interpretation, does not fully recognize that you can love who you want to love in the way you want to love and for how long you can stay in love.”

During a recent lecture on Legal and Political Foundations of the Current Restrictions on Intimacies and Relationships, Justice Leonen also said: “Those who establish and maintain relationships and love differently from the ideals of a conservative religious morality are not less human. They are no less Filipinos.

The SC’s Office of the Spokesperson said that Justice Leonen also spoke on the concepts of illegitimacy and psychological incapacity, one of the grounds for voiding marriage under the Family Code.

The Family Code, under Article 36, allows nullity of marriage if one or both parties suffer from psychological incapacity that existed at the time of marriage.