Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle (right) sprinkles holy water to devotees waving palm fronds after the Palm Sunday mass at the Manila Cathedral in Manila. Millions of Filipino Catholics trooped to churches nationwide to observe the beginning of the Holy Week. (MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – A party-list lawmaker pushing for the passage of a divorce bill in the House of Representatives is under no illusions that it will be passed in the 16th Congress.
Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan said House Bill 4408 remains pending in the committee on the revision of laws.
“Mukhang hindi ito mapapasa ngayon. The chairperson of the committee is not putting it on the agenda. I have been lobbying to put it on the agenda so we can discuss it. We have no illusions that it will pass this Congress,” she said.
Ilagan said there is a real need to legalize divorce in the Philippines as shown by the results of a recent Social Weather Stations survey.
The December 2014 survey showed 60% of Filipinos are in favor of granting divorce to married couples who are legally separated and cannot reconcile anymore. This is up from a “plurality” of 50% in March 2011 and a split 43-44% in May 2005.
Ilagan said the survey is evidence that Filipinos want another remedy available for couples in problematic marriages. Present remedies include annulment and legal separation.
She said some spouses have been abandoned by their partners for years without any support while some wives endure abuse from their husbands.
She also noted that legal separation is not enough for some couples.
“Hindi maka-move on ang iba. Some are legally separated but cannot get married. Pwede silang ihabla ng adultery, bigamy or concubinage,” she said.
The lawmaker pointed out that divorce is not alien to Filipino culture, noting that indigenous peoples and Muslims allow divorce.
For his part, Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza rejected the passage of a divorce law, saying it will destroy Filipino families.
“No matter what survey comes out, it has nothing to do with what we need to do for the good of Filipino marriages and families,” he said in a separate DZMM interview.
Atienza acknowledged that annulment or legal separation can be difficult and expensive but stressed that a marriage contract is the “most permanent contract” of all.
“Kailangang paghirapan lalo na ngayon na masyado tayong exposed sa banyagang kultura,” he said.
The lawmaker said the passage of divorce laws all over the world does not mean the Philippines should follow suit. He pointed out that abortion is also legal in some countries “but we believe it is wrong and we should never accept it.” (MNS)