QUEZON City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte on Monday backed the approval of the divorce bill being proposed in Congress, but only if it is based on “sound grounds.”
“If the reasons for divorce are based on grounds enumerated in our annulment or legal separation laws, like physical abuse, bigamy, fraud, infidelity, homosexuality, drug addiction, [and] habitual alcoholism, I am okay with that,” she said.
She was referring to the Family Code’s Articles 45 and 55, enumerating the legal grounds for the annulment of marriage and grant of legal separation, respectively.
A women’s rights advocate and a devout Catholic, Belmonte however clarified she would not advocate the grant of divorce to married couples for “superficial reasons” because it violates the sanctity and commitment of marriage.
“There should be sound grounds before a married couple is allowed to divorce,” she said, citing she would not support a divorce law like other countries, such as the United States, where any couple could easily get one for the “simplest and meaningless” basis.
Moreover, she said, divorce is a no-no if the reason is just to get an alimony.
She said she would wait the House of Representatives to come up with a legal definition of what divorce is.
“The definition is important. We really need to study it first,” she stressed.
Last Feb. 21, Congress’ committee population and family relations approved a substitute bill consolidating all four proposals to legalize divorce and dissolution of marriage.
Meanwhile, the Quezon City Council has passed a resolution urging the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to expand its skills training programs for out-of-school youth.
City Resolution 7125-2017 authored by Councilor Eric Z. Medina aims to improve the economic condition of the out-of-school youth in barangays by providing more relevant, accessible, high quality and efficient technical and skills development program from Tesda.
“There are potential and competitive out-of-school youth which need the support of the government to improve their economic condition,” the resolution read.
The city government also wants to prevent the out-of-school youth from getting involved in vices, such as, the use of illegal drugs and other criminal activities.
Under the Republic Act 7726, TESDA is mandated to promote and strengthen the quality of technical education and skills development programs to attain international competitiveness in producing skilled citizens.
Quezon City government continues to act to reduce the number of out-of-school youth that are forced to quit schooling due to poverty and increased tuition fee.