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With Maltas divorce law enacted in July,

the Philippines is now having the worlds
last legislative debate on divorce. So far,
the recent renewed push to legalize divorce
is not as controversial as the Reproductive
Health (RH) Bill at least not yet. But
with our nation being the last one without
divorce, the Catholic Church and other
opponents of laws dissolving marriage are
mukIng LIeIr hnuI sLund In Congress.
House Bill No. 1799, or An Act Introducing
DIvorce In LIe PIIIIppInes, wus hIed by
Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela in 2005, then
re-hIed In AugusL IusL yeur by uzvImIndu
Ilagan and Emerenciana De Jesus, also
for the womens party-list group. It would
amend the Family Code of the Philippines,
decreed in 1987 by then-President Corazon
Aquino, when she temporarily wielded
legislative powers.
House committee hearings on HB 1799
begun in June drew immediate protest
from the Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines. Former CBCP president
and retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop
Oscar Cruz had warned that passing the
RH Bill could open the gates to more
contentious legislation, such as divorce and
sume-sex murrIuges.
Back on the front burner. Now, divorce
is back on the front burner. CBCP legal
counsel Jo Imbong cited passages from the
Constitution to argue that the very idea of
divorce violates Philippine law. Opponents
also maintain that legal separation and
annulment already allowed by the Family
Code, address the problem of unhappy and
failed marriages.
But divorce advocates insist those two
remedies are not enough. The grounds
for annulment focus on events at the time
of the wedding, rather than the marriage
itself. Legal separation, on the other hand,
while allowing couples to live apart, does
The Worlds
Last Divorce Debate
Does the Philippines need a divorce law?
By Maria Carmina Olivar
CONTENTS BUSINESS WORLD NATION
19
not actually put an end to the marriage.
In effect, it maintains a marital status that
cIeurIy no Ionger reecLs LIe reIuLIonsIIp
between former spouses.
The current Divorce Bill would terminate
marriage, not just separate couples or
declare that a marriage was null and void
from the start, which seems to many as a
kInd oI IeguIIzed hcLIon. TIe meusure wouId
also eliminate condonation of/consent
to the act of marital abuse as grounds for
denying petitions for separation or divorce.
The Divorce Bill would also better address
hnuncIuI Issues LIrougI equuI dIvIsIon oI
conjugal assets and spousal support for
former partners who are not gainfully
employed.
Other bills offer similar solutions.
Early this year Bayan Muna Representative
NerI CoImenures hIed HB 3952, or An Act
RecognIzIng SpousuI VIoIence, nhdeIILy
and Abandonment as Presumptive
Psychological Incapacity Constituting a
Ground for the Annulment of Marriage.
Instead of instituting divorce, Colmenares
wunLs Lo expund LIe grounds Ior unnuImenL.
The Catholic Church still objects to HB
3952, however.
A yeur beIore Rep. CoImenures hIed HB
3952, another womens party-list group,
1-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA),
urged a 10-year limit on a marriage
contracts validity, with an option for
renewal, as has been proposed in the U.S.
Though 1-ABAA initially reported positive
reactions to their proposal, the Church held
its ground and opposed it, and the idea
did not gain much traction after the initial
media coverage.
Trying to make a comeback since
1999. The divorce law has been trying to
make a comeback here in the Philippines
for more than a decade now. In 1999,
RepresenLuLIve MunueI OrLegu hIed HB
6993. Two years later Senator Rodolfo
Biazon championed Senate Bill No. 782,
wIIIe RepresenLuLIve BeIIuor Anguru-
CusLIIIo hIed House BIII No. 8;8. AII LIree
were entitled, An Act Legalizing Divorce,
Amending for the Purpose Title II and
ArLIcIes Lo 6; TIereunder oI ExecuLIve
Order No. zoq, us Amended by ExecuLIve
Order No. 227, Otherwise Known as the
Family Code of the Philippines.
WIII LIe new dIvorce bIIIs hIed by GubrIeIu
hnuIIy guIn LrucLIon? BoLI Iuve LIe IocuI
womens rights groups all up in arms and
ready to defend their stance. The issue has
half of the public backing it, according to an
SWS survey earlier this year. But with the
RH Bill having stirred the Catholic Church
into political action, opponents of divorce
ure uIso prImed Ior u bIg hgIL. And noL jusL
LIe PIIIIppIne IIerurcIy. VuLIcun envoy
Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto declared that
being the only nation with no divorce law
was a point of honor for the country.
The worlds last divorce debate
CONTENTS BUSINESS WORLD NATION