RE: LETTER OF TONY Q. VALENCIANO

Re: Letter of Tony Q. Valenciano Holding of Religious Rituals at the Hall of Justice Building in Quezon City 

A.M. No. 10-4-19-SC

March 7, 2017

Facts:

This controversy originated from a series of letters written by Valenciano and addressed to the Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno reporting that the basement of the Hall of Justice of Quezon City had been converted into a Roman Catholic Chapel, complete with Catholic religious icons and other instrument for religious activities. He believe that such practice violated the constitutional provisions on the separation of Church and State and the constitutional prohibition against the appropriation of public money and property for the benefit of a sect, church, denomination, or any other system of religion. He further averred that the holding of masses at the basement of Hall of Justice showed that it tended to favor the Catholic litigants; that the rehearsals and other activities caused great disturbance to the employees; and that court functions are affected due to the masses that is being held from 12:00 to 1:15 in the afternoon.

Issue:

Whether or not the holding of masses at the basement of the Quezon City Hall of Justice violates the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State as well as the constitutional prohibition against appropriation of public money or property for the benefit of any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution or system of religion.

Ruling:

The holding of Religious Rituals in the Hall of Justice does not amount to the union of Church and State. The 1987 constitution provides that the separation of Church and the State shall be inviolable; if further provides that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. Allowing religion to flourish is not contrary to the principle of separation of Church and state. In fact, these two principles are in perfect harmony with each other. The Roman Catholic express their worship through the holy mass and to stop these would be tantamount to repressing the right to the free exercise of their religion.

It is also the view of the Supreme Court that the holding of Catholic masses at the basement of the Quezon City Hall of Justice is not a case of establishment but merely accommodation wherein the government recognize the reality that some measures may not be imposed on a certain portion of the population for the reason that these measures are contrary to their religious beliefs. As long as it can be shown that the exercise of the right does not impair the public welfare, the attempt of the State to regulate or prohibit such right would be an unconstitutional encroachment.

No appropriation of Public money or property for the benefit of any Church. The constitution provides that “No public money or property shall be appropriated, applied, paid, or employed, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support any sect, church, denomination, sectarian institution, or system of religion, or any priest, preacher, minister or other religious teacher, or dignitary as such, except when such priest, preacher, minister, or dignitary is assigned to the armed forces, or any penal institution, or government orphanage or leprosarium.

The prohibition contemplates a scenario where the appropriation is primarily intended for the furtherance of a particular church. The aforecited constitutional provision “does not inhibit the use of public property for religious purposes when the religious character of such use is merely incidental to a temporary use which is available indiscriminately to the public in general. Thus, the basement of the Quezon City Hall of Justice has remained to be a public property devoted for public use because the holding of Catholic masses therein is a mere incidental consequence of its primary purpose.