In favor or not?

Divorce: To legalize or not?

Marriage is the most important event to any couple. It serves as the bond to the family they are planning to build. A family consisting of husband, wife and a child.  These three elements compose a family. Each member functions to keep the ties and to make it fulfilling. What happened when the husband become tired of the relationship? What if the mother found another man? What happened to the child who receives the negative effects of a failed family relationship?

The only legal recourse available to Filipinos who want to exit a failed union is through an annulment or a petition for legal separation. It has different grounds and end results. Under the Family Code of the Philippines, a marriage may be annulled if any of the following grounds exist: lack of parental consent, psychological incapacity, fraud, marriage by force or intimidation, inability to consummate the marriage and if one party has contracted a sexually-transmissible disease. The 1987 Family Code was introduced under the presidency of Corazon Aquino.Those seeking annulment must undergo a mental exam, testify in court and sometimes even claim they or their spouse entered the union while afflicted by a psychological disorder. The process can cost at least P250,000 and take anywhere from one to 10 years given the congestion in Philippine court dockets. Meanwhile, a petition for legal separation requires any of the following grounds: repeated physical abuse from partner, coercion to change religious or political affiliation, attempt of respondent to corrupt petitioner or their child to engage in prostitution, respondent meted with imprisonment of more than 6 years, drug addiction of spouse, lesbianism or homosexuality, bigamous marriage, sexual infidelity or perversion, attempt against the life of spouse and abandonment without justifiable cause for more than a year. If the petition is granted, the couple may live separately from each other. The conjugal partnership is also dissolved, but the marriage bonds are still in effect. Annulment also allows remarriage but legal separation does not.

The Divorce Bill, or House Bill 7303 ("An Act Instituting Absolute Divorce and Dissolution of Marriage in the Philippines."), passed with 134 votes in favor and 57 against, with two abstentions. The House of Representatives approved on a third and final reading the proposed law, which would allow Filipinos to remarry after being granted a divorce abroad. This divorce bill would mean a court ruling could dissolve a marriage if it is deemed "irremediably broken", allowing individuals to remarry another person of the opposite sex. The bill would also give courts the power to decide custody "in accordance with the best interests" of minors. Children under seven could not be separated from their mothers unless there were "compelling reasons" to do so. Philippines are considered to have close ties with Catholic Church. Along with Vatican, they are the only countries in the world where divorce is not legal. House Bill 7303 aims to make divorce more accessible to a wider range of couples seeking liberty from irreparable marriage. It provides that the "State shall assure that the court proceedings for the grant of absolute divorce shall be affordable and inexpensive, particularly for court assisted litigants and petitioners." The proposed measure also pushes for pro-women legislation as the bill notes that in most cases of irreparable marriages it is the wife who is entitled to liberation from an abusive relationship. The status of the children of divorced couples also takes preference. A joint petition for divorce should include a plan for parenthood that details support, parental authority, custody and living arrangements of the common children. For the legitimate and adopted children of divorced spouses, they will retain their legal status after the petition for divorce is granted. A child born or conceived within 300 days after filing for divorce is also considered a legitimate child, except when the basis for divorce is marital infidelity of the wife. The bill also proposes that divorced spouses shall have the right to remarry.

The final decision for this bill is still in the hands of the president. He may approve it or veto it. The president’s spokesperson, Harry Roque, already announced the side of the president to this bill, according to him even if the presidents have a failed marital relationship with former wife Zimmerman, he does not support the Divorce Bill. While the Senate President, Koko Pimentel, adding more grounds to annulments rather than passing the bill will be more appropriate.  The stance of the bill is still unknown. It is being push to be a law for about 20 years but until now it is not been approved.

I partially support the lawmakers who authored this bill. Making it easy to settle the family’s problem also helps the child to secure its right. Annulment is a long and costly process that forces the couple with problem to seek legal separation rather than annulment. Its deportment on the bicameral system is still unsupported. To be able to make a bill a counterpart bill shall be filed but no one in the senate is interested in doing it. It is a sign that we, Filipinos, really value the family ties we have. Pros and cons must be exhibited to all especially the layman in order to give awareness and knowledge of its advantages and disadvantages.