By Liezelle Soriano

MANILA — The House Bill on absolute divorce has been brought to the plenary for debate.

House Bill (HB) No. 9349 or the Absolute Divorce Act has been sponsored during the plenary on Tuesday by Albay Second District Representative Edcel Lagman, Cebu Third District Rep. Pablo John Garcia, Negros Occidental Fourth District Rep. Juliet Ferrer, and Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas.

Lagman said that divorce is only an option and spouses may or may not petition for divorce or they may avail of dissolution of marriage based on psychological incapacity under Article 36, annulment of marriage under Article 45 or legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code.

“A divorce decree entitles the parties the right to remarry and have another chance at marital bliss.  The divorce decree shall include and protect spousal support, children’s support and custody, and respect of the children’s legitime, as well as the interest of creditors,” he added.

Meanwhile, for Brosas, she said that the legalization of divorce in the country would mean that abused women would be free from domestic situation.

“We in Gabriela Women’s Party believe that beyond being part of this huge global circle, legalizing divorce is a means for abused women to be free from their domestic situation and allow them the opportunity to live a new life, free from violence and abuse,” Brosas said.

Earlier, Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said that Philippine laws have been making it difficult for Filipinos to leave unhappy marriages.

“Marriage as the foundation of the family no longer reflects the present realities and sensitives of many Filipino families,” Leonen said.

“The antiquated form from our colonial past is still codified in our laws and is still being reiterated in jurisprudence 135 years later,” he added.

(el Amigo/MNM)

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.”