Divorce legalization filed anew in Congress

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman has filed another bill seeking to legalize divorce in the Philippines, noting the measure's progress in the previous sessions of Congress.

Dubbed the “Absolute Divorce Act,” the measure provides that an absolute divorce could be decreed for an “irremediably broken” marriage with “affordable, expeditious, and inexpensive” court proceedings.

Albay Rep Edcel Lagman refiles Divorce Bill. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/vweOvzmhsj

— Tina PanganibanPerez (@tinapperez) July 3, 2022

It institutes a “cooling-off” period of six months after the filing of a petition, and will provide for the care and custody of children, the termination of their conjugal partnership of gains, and alimony.

The measure also notes that the state still has the mandate of strengthening marriage and family life through state-funded pre-nuptial and post-matrimonial programs and activities, even if divorce is legalized.

“[B]eleaguered and tormented wives can soon be liberated from irretrievably dysfunctional marriages or inordinately abusive marital relations,” Lagman said in an emailed statement.

The explanatory note of the bill noted that the Philippines and the Vatican City are the only two sovereign states where divorce is illegal, adding that women are at a disadvantage.

“The institution of absolute divorce does not temporize the steadfast commitment of the state to protect and preserve marriage as a social institution and as the foundation of the family,” it said.

“This bill provides for clear and categorical safeguards for the preservation and protection of marriage. Because while the state continues to protect and preserve marriage as a social institution and as the foundation of the family, shattered marriages beyond rehabilitation happen due to human failings and frailties,” it added.

Lagman filed versions of the measure in previous sessions of Congress, with a similar one passed on third reading by the House of Representatives in the 17th Congress. The Senate, however, did not act upon it.

Another version was also approved by the Committee on Population and Family Relations in the 18th Congress but was stalled in the Committee on Appropriations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[N]othwithstanding the adoption of the 1987 Constitution of the precepts that marriage is a social institution, the foundation of the family and is inviolable, the Commissioners of the 1986 Constitutional Commission were unanimous that the Congress is not prohibited or precluded from instituting absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage under the current Charter,” Lagman said.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in March said there were cases in which divorce was “called for” and “it can’t really be worked out,” though it still should not be easy to get. — DVM, GMA News