4/14/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly member who is expelled from the membership by the church authorities, or a priest or minister who is by them. deprived of his sacred office, is without remedy in the civil courts, which will not inquire into the correctness of the decisions of the ecclesiastical tribunals." (Emphasis ours) Obviously recognizing the peculiarity of a religious corporation, the Corporation Code leaves the matter of ecclesiastical discipline to the religious group concerned. Section 91 of the Corporation Code, which has been made explicitly applicable to religious corporations by the second paragraph of Section 109 of the same Code, states: "SECTION 91. Termination of membership. — Membership shall be terminated in the manner and for the causes provided in the articles of incorporation or the by-laws: Termination of membership shall have the effect of extinguishing all rights of a member in the corporation or in its property, unless otherwise provided in the articles of incorporation or the by-laws." (Emphasis ours) Moreover, the petitioners really have no reason to bewail the lack of prior notice in the By-laws. As correctly observed by the Court of Appeals, they have waived such notice by adhering to those By-laws. They became members of the CHURCH voluntarily. They entered into its covenant and subscribed to its rules. By doing so, they are bound by their consent.[20] Indeed, upon showing of sufficient proof, the Court will not hesitate to uphold the exercise of religious freedom over property rights to income and even to abode, once the church hierarchy has made its. decision involving ecclesiastical matters. Accordingly, an intrusion into the church's religious freedom in disciplining and in expelling its missionaries cannot be countenanced, as in this case. Hence, I concur with the ponencia and vote to GRANT the Petition. [1] Watson v. Jones, 80 U.S. 679, 722 (1871). [2] Section 1(7), Article III. [3] Section 8, Article IV. [4] Joaquin G. Bernas, SJ, THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES: A COMMENTARY 318 (2003). [5] 565 U.S. 171 (2012). [6] The First Amendment reads: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66079 21/24