Daphne Galvez – The Philippine Star
December 17, 2024 | 12:00am
In an 18-page ruling, the SC First Division said sexual relations between two consenting adults who have no legal impediment to marry is not deemed immoral.
MANILA, Philippines — Consensual sexual relations between unmarried people that result in pregnancy are not immoral and not a valid ground for suspension from work of the pregnant woman, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled.
In an 18-page ruling, the SC First Division said sexual relations between two consenting adults who have no legal impediment to marry is not deemed immoral.
“No law forbids such, and said conduct does not contravene any fundamental state policy enshrined in the Constitution,” the SC decision, penned by Associate Justice Ricardo Rosario, read.
The high tribunal has declared illegal the 2016 suspension by a Christian school in Bohol of a teacher who became pregnant before marrying her boyfriend.
In September 2016, when she was two months pregnant, the teacher informed the school principal about her pregnancy and her scheduled marriage to her boyfriend.
The teacher was “verbally suspended” indefinitely until her marriage to the father of her child for violating the school’s policy.
She also received a written notice, stating that she was suspended indefinitely without pay due to immorality until she gets married.
She filed a complaint for illegal suspension. The labor arbiter held that she was constructively dismissed, but the National Labor Relations Commission reversed the decision.
The Court of Appeals (CA) ruled that there was no constructive dismissal, and found the teacher’s suspension illegal.
The appellate court said it did not find the teacher’s conduct immoral as she did not have sexual relations with a married man and neither was she married at the time.
The CA ordered the school to pay the teacher the salaries and benefits she did not receive during her suspension.
It’s women’s month!
“Support women every day of the year!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations against serious violations of Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government
(NUG) of Myanmar.
Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
Women’s Role in History Month
Weekly Observances:
Week 1: Environmental Week
Women’s Week
Week 3: Philippine Industry and Made-in-the-Philippines
Products Week
Last Week: Protection and Gender-Fair Treatment
of the Girl Child Week
Daily Observances:
March 8: Women’s Rights and
International Peace Day;
National Women’s Day
Mar 4— Employee Appreciation Day
Mar 15 — World Consumer Rights Day
Mar 18 — Global Recycling Day
Mar 21 — International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Mar 23 — International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims
Mar 25 — International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Mar 27 — Earth Hour
