After decades of advocacy by progressive lawmakers, the House of Representative approved the divorce bill on its third and final reading, voting 134 for -57 against -2 abstain last March 19.
This is the farthest that any divorce bill has gone. The buck has now been passed to the Senate, which has no counterpart bill. The Philippines is the only country in the world aside from the Vatican without a divorce law.
According to the Lower House’s website (congress.gov.ph), House Bill No. 7303, the Absolute Divorce Act of 2018, “declares that while the State continues to protect and preserve marriage as a social institution and as the foundation of the family, it shall also give the opportunity to spouses in irremediably failed marriages to secure absolute divorce under limited grounds…”
The bill defines absolute divorce as the “separation between married couples that is total and final where the husband and wife return to their status of being single with the right to contract marriage again.”
The bill’s approval by the Lower House was praised by the many Filipinos who have been waiting for such a law. At the moment, the only legal reliefs from a failed marriage are separation and annulment. Separation does not allow the spouses to remarry; annulment does but comes at a steep price, in the hundreds of thousands of pesos, out of reach of most Filipinos.
Annulment also declares the marriage void from the start by supposing a pre-existing reason why the marriage should not have taken place, such as mental illness, non-consummation, or other incapacity on the part of one or both spouses.
While justified in some cases, in the majority this reasoning is a cop-out. It does not honor those marriages that might have gone off to a good start but soured along the way. Absolute divorce allows that there are reasons for marriages to be terminated and is a more honest way of approach.
HB 7303 also makes divorce “inexpensive and affordable” and thus will be accessible to those who are unable to obtain annulments because of prohibitive attorneys’ and psychologists’ fees.
The lawmakers against the bill cited religious reasons for the most part, which is contrary to the constitutional separation of church and state. What they should remember is that they were voted in to represent their constituents, not to push their personal agendas. Religion is a private matter and should not be imposed upon others, particularly by those in authority because it would constitute an abuse of power.
As for the argument that divorce will disadvantage the wife and children, it is a solution particularly in cases where there is domestic violence; the battered spouse and children would be better off and safer without the abuser around. In cases of infidelity, divorce can give a fresh start beyond the hurt, deception, and betrayal.
Regarding financial support, the divorce bill provides a petitioner who is not gainfully employed with alimony (one-time or monthly) for a period not exceeding three years after the finality of the divorce decree. The amount shall also be proportional to the respondent’s means and the needs of the recipient.
Pre-colonial Filipinos had divorce. There was a divorce law during the Japanese and American occupations, and Islamic law allows this for Muslims. There are also indigenous cultures where divorce is allowed. Divorce will not cause our society to collapse. What it will do is bring an end to the hypocrisy and despair, and allow moving on and starting again.
Personally against divorce, for whatever reason? Then don’t get a divorce. But your opinion or religious affiliation does not give you the right to withhold the choice from others who need it.
Kudos to the House of Representatives for making history in the 17th Congress by approving HB 7303. Now it is up to the Senate to step up to the plate by finally giving the country its long-overdue divorce law. This can be their legacy for posterity.
Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communication consultant. FB and Twitter: @DrJennyO