Philippine Supreme Court grants property rights to same-sex couples

In a first for the Philippines, the nation’s Supreme Court has opened the door for same-sex couples to claim shared property ownership, a breakthrough for LGBTQ+ rights in the heavily Catholic nation where such unions remain outlawed.

Big win: The Feb. 5, 2025 ruling, made public this week more than a year later, reversed two lower court decisions and recognized Jennifer Josef and Evalyn Ursua as joint owners of the home they bought in 2006, a year after they started living together. The justices relied on Article 148 of the Family Code, which they said applies to all cohabiting couples, not just heterosexual ones. Court spokesperson Camille Ting told the BBC that it marks the first time Article 148 has been applied to a same-sex property case.

Two justices filed concurring opinions on its significance. Justice Marvic Leonen wrote that “to be different is not to be abnormal,” while Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier pointed to the “glaring yet unjustified difference in the treatment of heterosexual couples vis-à-vis their homosexual counterparts.”

What’s next: While advocates welcome the breakthrough, they stress it only addresses property rights in the country. This leaves same-sex couples without protections for healthcare and inheritance. The justices acknowledged these limits, noting Congress must act on broader LGBTQ+ rights. Reyna Valmores Salinas, chair of the activist group Bahaghari, praised the “landmark jurisprudence” but argued the country needs to go further. “It is time we amend the Family Code and institute marriage equality, otherwise known as same-sex marriage,” she said, as per Rappler.

The ruling offers new legal ground in a country that, along with only the Vatican, bans both same-sex marriage and divorce.