By: Junex Doronio

OUT OF 195 COUNTRIES IN THIS PLANET, only the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, is the state outside the Vatican — considered a state and the seat of Roman Catholicism in Rome, Italy — where divorce is not allowed.

Lawmakers have filed bills to legalize divorce since 1999 but even if passed by the House of Representatives, the Senate would always relegate it to the back burner.

Until now.

For the first time since the restoration of Congress which has “two houses” after the 1986 EDSA Revolution, the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality on Tuesday, September 19, approved a consolidated measure on absolute divorce in the country.

Senate Bill No. 2443 was the consolidated measure filed by Senators Risa Hontiveros, Raffy Tulfo, Robin Padilla, Pia Cayetano, and Imee Marcos.

Aside from the authors, Senators JV Ejercito, Grace Poe, Koko Pimentel, and Senate President Pro Tempore Loren Legarda signed the report.

SB 2443 lists as grounds for divorce the following circumstances:

  • five years of separation, whether continuous or broken, without a judicial decree of separation;
  • the commission of the crime of rape by the respondent-spouse against the petitioner-spouse, whether before or after the celebration of their marriage;
  • the grounds for legal separation under the Family Code; provided that physical violence or grossly abusive conduct… need not be repeated; provided further, that, lesbianism and homosexuality… shall not be ground, unless either or both spouses commit marital infidelity;
    • a final decree of absolute divorce validly obtained in a foreign jurisdiction by any Filipino citizen;
    • irreconcilable marital differences or irreparable breakdown of marriage, despite earnest efforts at reconciliation; and
    • a marriage annulment or dissolution, duly authorized by a church or religious entity, or a marriage termination duly authorized by customs and practices traditionally recognized, accepted, and observed by an ICC or IP to which the parties belong.

    Once divorce is granted, each party’s status will become single for all legal intents and purposes, including the right to contract a subsequent marriage.

    The bill also provides that in the case of poor individuals, the court must waive payment of filing fees and other costs for the divorce.

    Furthermore, the court will also evaluate their independent source of income, property, and capacity to afford services of counsel, as well as whether they’re part of a marginalized group.

    To recall, then-presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said divorce shouldn’t be “easy” if it would be allowed in the country.

    Earlier reports said First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos was in favor of divorce acknowledging that some marriages don’t work out but preferred that the process should be “hard” to “break the bond.”