New bill seeks to make divorce legal

A bill seeking to make divorce legal in the Philippines has been approved in the House of Representatives, amid opposition from the powerful Roman Catholic Church and President Rodrigo Duterte.

Divorce has traditionally been prohibited in Catholic-dominated Philippines and analysts say the measure is likely to be welcomed as a relief by couples who have been trapped for years in failed unions.

The Philippines and the Vatican remain as the only states in the world where divorce is outlawed. Annulments are legal in the Philippines, but the process is costly and could take years.

The new measure 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 grounds envisioned in the legislation include psychological incapacity of one of the two or both parties, gender reassignment, irreconcilable differences and joint petition by the spouses.

It had been said that, while the country’s current law allows “legal separation”, the cost that goes along with the process of dissolving the legal union had been prohibitive.

Under the measure petitioners seeking divorce are ensured “inexpensive and affordable court proceedings” in securing an absolute divorce decree.

Aside from this, “overseas foreign workers shall be given priority with respect to court hearings.”

The proposed divorce law also sets a six-month “cooling off period” after filing the petition to give a chance for the couple to reconcile.

“The court shall exercise all efforts to reunite and reconcile the parties and the court shall await the submission of the report of the public prosecutor,” it said.

The mandatory cooling-off period however, will not apply in cases where violence had been committed against the female party and children.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that the divorce law will be detrimental for marriages that could still be mended.

In a pastoral letter, CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles said the option of leaving a marriage would not work for Filipinos.

“In a context in which divorce is presented as an easy option, marriages and families are bound to break up more easily,” Valles said.

He said that in so-called “progressive countries” like the United States where four out of 10 marriages end up in divorce, “more children grow up disoriented and deprived of the care of both parents.”

Earlier, President Duterte said he is not in favour of allowing divorce in the country under his presidency. However, the Philippine leader had been legally separated from his first wife and has a daughter with his current partner.

Duterte had three children from his first marriage.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte believes approving divorce in the Philippines would be bad for children of separated couples and spouses seeking legal actions against their respective partners.