The María Clara doctrine, also known as the Woman's Honor doctrine, is a

legal doctrine A legal doctrine is a framework, set of rules, Procedural law, procedural steps, or Test (law), test, often established through precedent in the common law, through which judgments can be determined in a given legal case. For example, a doctrine ...

applied by Philippine courts regarding cases that concern abuse against women. The doctrine is a presumption "that women, especially Filipinas, would not admit that they have been abused unless that abuse had actually happened." It was a part of

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is a law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...

in the Philippines for some considerable time but was repudiated by the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

in 2018.

Etymology

The doctrine was named after María Clara from

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

's novel '' Noli Me Tángere''. Clara is characterized as reserved and shy and was later considered an "ideal" role model for women in Filipino culture, although such notion was imposed by Spanish colonizers. This contrasted the ideal of women being more assertive, independent and courageous which dates back to the precolonial era.

Legal history

The doctrine became a part of the

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

some time in 1960 following the ''People v. Taño'' case. The high court through Justice Alejo Labrador asserted a "well known fact" that women, especially Filipinos "would not admit that they have been abused unless that abuse had actually happened." The court said that women's natural instinct is to protect their honor. The case involved three armed robbers who the court found liable for taking turns in raping a woman. About 58 years later since the doctrine entered the high court's jurisprudence, the Third Division of the Supreme Court reversed a ruling on January 17, 2018 by a Davao court on two people convicted of rape. The 2018 decision was released in late February. The case involved an alleged rape that happened in 2009 and the two accused were sentenced of '' reclusión perpetua'', or forty years of imprisonment, in 2012. The decision was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in 2016. The court described the doctrine as causing a "travesty of justice" by putting the accused at an "unfair disadvantage", criticizing the doctrine for assuming that no Filipina woman of "decent repute" would falsely claim that she was abused. It urged for the acceptance of the "realities of a woman’s dynamic role" in Philippine society today so one can "evaluate the testimony of a private complainant of rape without

gender bias Gender bias is the tendency to prefer one gender over another. It is a form of unconscious bias, or implicit bias, which occurs when one individual unconsciously attributes certain attitudes and stereotypes to another person or group of people ...

or cultural misconception". It also stated that the discrepancies in the alleged victim's testimonies had cast doubt on whether the rape incident did or did not happen. This led to concerns and speculations that the high court has abandoned the doctrine. The

Gabriela Women's Party The Gabriela Women's Party (General Assembly Binding Women for Reform, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action), or simply GABRIELA, is a progressive Filipino political party that advocates for women's issues and represents Filipino women in ...

condemned the decision which it viewed made the Maria Clara doctrine invalid saying the ruling reversal will empower rapists and disagreed with the court's assessment of the societal status of women. On February 21, 2018, Supreme Court's spokesperson, Theodore Te has clarified that the doctrine had not been abandoned, explaining that the high court can abandon a doctrine only during a full session.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2018/jan2018/gr_225642_2018.html, title=G.R. No. 225642-43, date=January 17, 2018, publisher=Supreme Court of the Philippines (PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, v. JUVY D. AMARELA AND JUNARD G. RACHO, DECISION) Legal doctrines and principles Supreme Court of the Philippines cases Women's rights in the Philippines Rape in the Philippines