Naga City institutionalizes annual LGBT+ commitment ceremony

The Naga City Council on Tuesday passed an ordinance which institutionalizes a yearly commitment ceremony for LGBT+ couples in the city, serving as a “symbolic affirmation of love and partnership between consenting adults.”

The measure is named the Naga City LGBTQIA+ Annual Commitment Ceremony Ordinance.

“This proposed ordinance seeks to eliminate discrimination through creating a community-centered event aimed at creating inclusive spaces where community members celebrate their relationships with acceptance and respect,”wrote City Councilor Gilda Gayle Abonal-Gomez in a Facebook post.

“This also establishes a clear implementation mechanism, designates responsible offices, and provide adequate support for a program celebrating diversity and honoring all forms of love,” added Gomez, who also authored the ordinance.

The first commitment ceremony will be held this month, June 2026, and subsequently every February.

According to the text of the passed ordinance, the said commitment ceremony does not constitute a legal marriage under the Family Code and does not confer legal marital status or as substituting for civil marriage.

“The ceremony is a social and community recognition of the couple’s relationship and commitment, aimed at promoting dignity, respect and inclusion,” the current city council read from Section 5 of the passed ordinance during its livestreamed 47th regular session on Tuesday.

“Participation in the ceremony is purely voluntary and does not create any legal obligations between the participants or vis-à-vis third parties,” Section 5 of the passed ordinance states.

The ordinance creates no marital property rights, but co-ownership remains allowed.

“This commitment ceremony does not result in marital property rights under the Family Code, without prejudice to the couple to enter into a separate co-ownership agreement or such other modes of ownership or actions of ownership,” Section 5 states.

Earlier in February, the Supreme Court (SC) has held in its landmark decision in the case of Josef v. Ursua that same-sex couples who live together may be co-owners of properties under Article 148 of the Family Code, provided that there is proof of contribution.

This, as same-sex civil marriage is currently not recognized under Philippine law.

In the 2019 case of Falcis v. Civil Registrar General, the SC declined, citing technical grounds, to grant Jesus Falcis’ petition to primarily declare Articles 1 and 2 of the Family Code, enacted into law by former President Corazon Aquino in 1987, as unconstitutional.

The said Family Code provisions currently define marriage as between man and woman; Falcis forwarded that there is no such explicit limitation in the 1987 Constitution. — LA, GMA News