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Garcia V Drilon Case Digest
Garcia V Drilon Case Digest
DRILON,
Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court-Branch 41, Bacolod City, and
ROSALIE JAYPE-GARCIA, for herself and in behalf of minor children,
namely: JO-ANN, JOSEPH EDUARD, JESSE ANTHONE, all surnamed
GARCIA’
G.R. No. 179267
June 25, 2013
CONCURRING OPINIONS
FACTS:
Petitioner Jesus Garcia (husband) appears to have inflicted violence against
private respondents. Petitioner admitted having an affair with a bank
manager. He callously boasted about their sexual relations to the household
help. His infidelity emotionally wounded private respondent. Their quarrels
left her with bruises and hematoma. Petitioner also unconscionably beat up
their daughter, Jo-ann, whom he blamed for squealing on him.
The private respondent was determined to separate from petitioner. But she
was afraid he would take away their children and deprive her of financial
support. He warned her that if she pursued legal battle, she would not get a
single centavo from him. After she confronted him of his affair, he forbade
her to hold office. This deprived her of access to full information about
their businesses.
Thus, the RTC found reasonable ground to believe there was imminent
danger of violence against respondent and her children and issued a series of
Temporary Protection Orders (TPO) ordering petitioner, among other things,
to surrender all his firearms including a .9MM caliber firearm and a Walther
PPK.
International Laws
By constitutional mandate, the Philippines is committed to ensure that human
rights and fundamental freedoms are fully enjoyed by everyone.
1. It was one of the countries that voted in favor of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR). In addition, the Philippines is a signatory to many
United Nations human rights treaties such as the
2. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
3. the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
4. Convention Against Torture, and the
5. Convention on the Rights of the Child, among others.
UDHR
As a signatory to the UDHR, the Philippines pledged itself to achieve the
promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and
fundamental freedoms, keeping in mind the standards under the Declaration.
Among the standards under the UDHR are the following:
Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one
another in a spirit of brotherhood.
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Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal
protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and
against any incitement to such discrimination.
HELD:
RA 9262 is NOT UNCONSITUTIONAL.
CEDAW
Known as the International Bill of Rights of Women, the CEDAW is the
central and most comprehensive document for the advancement of the
welfare of women. The CEDAW, in its preamble, explicitly acknowledges the
existence of extensive discrimination against women, and emphasized that
such is a violation of the principles of equality of rights and respect for
human dignity.
RA 9262 provides the widest range of reliefs for women and children who
are victims of violence, which are often reported to have been committed
not by strangers, but by a father or a husband or a person with whom the
victim has or had a sexual or dating relationship.
Historical Perspective:
A foreign history professor noted that: "from the earliest civilizations on,
the subjugation of women, in the form of violence, were facts of life,
Judeo-Christian religious ideas; Greek philosophy; and the Common Law
Legal Code: all "assumed patriarchy as natural; that is, male domination
stemming from the view of male superiority."
18th century legal expert William Blackstone, reflected the theological
assumption that: husband and wife were ‘one body’ before God; thus "they
were ‘one person’ under the law, and that one person was the husband," a
concept that evidently found its way in some of our Civil Code provisions
prior to the enactment of the Family Code.
Society and tradition dictate that the culture of patriarchy continues. Men
are expected to take on the dominant roles both in the community and in the
family. This perception naturally leads to men gaining more power over
women – power, which must necessarily be controlled and maintained.
Violence against women is one of the ways men control women to retain such
power.
In ancient western societies, women whether slave, concubine or wife, were
under the authority of men. In law, they were treated as property.
The Roman concept of patria potestas allowed the husband to beat, or even
kill, his wife if she endangered his property right over her.
Judaism, Christianity and other religions oriented towards the patriarchal
family strengthened the male dominated structure of society.
English feudal law reinforced the tradition of male control over women.
However, in the late 1500s and through the entire 1600s, English common
law began to limit the right of husbands to chastise their wives. Thus,
common law developed the rule of thumb, which allowed husbands to beat
their wives with a rod or stick no thicker than their thumb.
Statistics:
The enactment of RA 9262 was in response to the undeniable numerous
cases involving violence committed against women in the Philippines.
In 2012, the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that 65% or 11,531
out of 15,969 cases involving violence against women were filed under RA
9262.
From 2004 to 2012, violations of RA. 9262 ranked first among the
different categories of violence committed against women. The number of
reported cases showed an increasing trend from 2004 to 2012,
The law recognizes, with valid factual support based on statistics that
women and children are the most vulnerable victims of violence, and
therefore need legal intervention. On the other hand, there is a dearth
of empirical basis to anchor a conclusion that men need legal protection
from violence perpetuated by women.
Women’s struggle for equality with men has evolved under three models:
1. Formal equality - women and men are to be regarded and treated as the
same. But this model does not take into account biological and socially
constructed differences between women and men. By failing to take into
account these differences, a formal equality approach may in fact
perpetuate discrimination and disadvantage.
2. Protectionist model – this recognizes differences between women and
men but considers women’s weakness as the rationale for different
treatment. This approach reinforces the inferior status of women and does
not address the issue of discrimination of women on account of their gender.
3. Substantive equality model – this assumes that women are "not vulnerable
by nature, but suffer from imposed disadvantage" and that "if these
imposed disadvantages were eliminated, there was no further need for
protection." Thus, the substantive equality model gives prime importance
to women’s contexts, realities, and experiences, and the outcomes or results
of acts and measures directed, at or affecting them, with a view to
eliminating the disadvantages they experience as women.
The intimate spaces created by our human relationships are our safe havens
from the helter skelter of this world. It is in that space where we grow in
the safety of the special other who we hope will be there for our entire
lifetime. If that is not possible, then for such time as will be sufficient to
create cherished memories enough to last for eternity.
I concur in the ponencia. Against abominable acts, let this law take its full
course.
Chief Justice Puno goes on: "The Expanded Equal Protection Clause,
anchored on the human rights rationale, is designed as a weapon against the
indignity of discrimination so that in the patently unequal Philippine society,
each person may be restored to his or her rightful position as a person with
equal moral status."