House SecGen denies deferring divorce bill transmittal to Senate

House of Representatives Secretary General Reginald Velasco on Thursday denied deferring the bill on absolute divorce to the Senate, saying he has been unable to sign the paperwork because of his ongoing foreign travel.

"I'm abroad on official mission. I may be able to sign the letter of transmittal to the Senate as soon as I return to Manila this weekend," Velasco told GMA News Online in a text message.

Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of the authors of the bill, said on Wednesday that he was informed that the Office of the Secretary General deferred the transmittal of the bill to the Senate to correct the number of affirmative votes it received.

For his part, Manila 6th district Rep. Benny Abante Jr., who is against the proposed measure, earlier said that the House deferred its transmission to the Senate "to allow those like myself to raise our concerns regarding the vote taken on this measure."

However, Velasco said that this was not the case.

"It was not deferred. I wasn't able to sign the letter of transmittal because of my official travel abroad," Velasco said.

The lower chamber approved on final reading the House Bill 9349 or the "Absolute Divorce Act" on May 22 before Congress adjourned sine die last week. The proposed legislation seeks to introduce divorce as an alternative mode for dissolution of broken or dysfunctional marriages.

The voting turnout was 126 yes, 109 no, and 20 abstained.

The next day, however, Velasco reported that a total of 131 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill. No reason was given for the change.

In his letter to Velasco, Lagman said that there was "no need to wait" and "the irreversible fact is that the affirmative votes got the majority of those who voted with the presence of a quorum and without the abstentions being counted."

In the Senate, the divorce bill has hurdled the committee level.

According to Mav Gonzales' report on 24 Oras last Tuesday, of the 24 senators surveyed by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, six were in favor of the controversial bill: Risa Hontiveros, Robin Padilla, Grace Poe, Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano, and Raffy Tulfo.

On the other hand, five senators were against passing a possible law on divorce, namely Estrada, Francis Tolentino, Joel Villanueva, and Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa. — VDV, GMA Integrated News