There are only two countries in the world without a divorce law: Malta and the Philippines. Both are Catholic-dominated nations governed by politicians who are afraid to antagonize the bishops who seem to be more popish than the pope in their dogmatic interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. But Malta is expected to finally enact a divorce law after its citizens recently approved the measure through a referendum. What now for the Philippines?
A divorce bill is pending in Congress, but its authors are less worried that Malta would beat the Philippines in legislating divorce than the disturbing fact that Filipino women have few and limited options to get out of failed marriages.
Under Philippines laws, there are only three remedies available to separate couples or terminate a marriage. These are legal separation, declaration of nullity and annulment. Legal separation allows couples to physically separate, but doesn’t allow them to re-marry, while a declaration of nullity makes the children in that marriage illegitimate.
The most popular option therefore used by estranged couples to end a marriage is by invoking Article 36 of the Family Code, which is sometimes referred to as the de facto divorce law in the Philippines. The provision allows a marriage to be voided if one of the parties is proven to be psychologically incapacitated to perform marital obligations. But it requires a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, not to mention lawyer’s fees, which makes it a costly solution.
The proposed divorce law would address the limitations of these existing legal remedies by expanding the grounds of separation. Divorce is granted if these grounds are met: De facto separation from his or her spouse for at least five years at the time of the filing of the petition and reconciliation is highly improbable; Legal separation for at least two years at the time of the filing of the petition and reconciliation is highly improbable; When any of the grounds for legal separation have caused irreparable breakdown of the marriage; When one or both spouses are psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations; and when the spouses suffer from irreconcilable difference that have caused the irreparable breakdown of the marriage.
The five valid grounds listed above are there to discourage and prevent no-fault divorces or Las Vegas-style divorces. The proposed divorce bill also has some interesting provisions that might be unique to the Philippines, like asking couples to seek reconciliation before petitioning for divorce, extending legal and personal assistance to poor couples who want a divorce, and prescribing a six-month period for the courts to settle divorce cases. Divorces obtained by Filipino citizens abroad will be deemed valid as well.
The intended beneficiaries of the bill aren’t rich couples who can afford expensive annulment proceedings, but poor women who are trapped in dead-end marriages. According to government figures, which should be considered conservative, an average of 22 annulment cases are filed everyday all over the country. In 2010, the number of annulment cases was 40 percent higher than 10 years ago.
It’s crucial to note that in 2007, the Office of the Solicitor General reported that 92 percent who filed for annulment petitions were Roman Catholics. As expected, 61 percent of petitioners were females. During the same year, the police said that a woman is battered every one hour and 50 minutes in the Philippines.
Critics of the divorce bill aver that divorce is alien to Philippine culture and that it’s a bad Western legacy. They are wrong, since absolute divorce was popularly practiced among ancestral tribes in the country prior to the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 16th century. Divorce was also available during the American period starting 1917. It was only in 1950, when the new Civil Code took effect, that divorce was disallowed in the country.
Opponents of the bill also argue that passing a divorce law would be unconstitutional since the 1987 Constitution explicitly mentions the need to protect the sanctity of marriage. But the same Constitution is silent on divorce, thereby not prohibiting its legalization.
Divorce wouldn’t necessarily destroy the foundation of the family, as has been shown by Italy and Spain, two predominantly Catholic countries with low rates of divorce. If a couple are happy, they wouldn’t file for divorce anyway. But it’s a reality that many are suffering in abusive and irreparable marriages. Why deny them the chance to regain their liberty and happiness?
The chances of legislating divorce in the Philippines is slim today since Congress has yet to finish deliberations on the equally, if not more controversial, Reproductive Health Bill. But it’s the duty of the government to protect the rights of all its citizens, whether Catholic or not. And this duty should include, among other things, the granting of the right of individuals, especially women, to end a bad marriage and seek a new life.
Reddit
Digg
StumbleUpon
Delicious
Technorati
Yahoo
Google
Plurk
Rich
I am an American living here in the Philippines for several years now with my native born wife. It does not take long to see that the problems here in this country stem from three main sources. These are the backward and unrealistic attitudes of the common people themselves. Second the selfserving system built and perpetuated by wealthy people, businessmen, and corrupt lapdog politicians. And last the Catholic church. A liberal devorce law is neededof course but the greatest need is for a strong proactive reproductive health bill. The population here is exploding and poor mothers should be visited by government and signed up for free birth controll. The couples here thinh its ok to have so many children and expect older siblings to provide for theirfamilies by working overseas excetra. The future of these children is being sacrificed to maintain the unrealistic reproduction of the parents. Poverty thus is passed form generation to generation. The country is way overpopulated at ten times the USA population density already. Most people are dirt poor and can’t or can barely provide for the large families. How long can this all go on here in these small islands before there is starvation? The forests are being cut down and land pushed into cultivation thats too steep to farm. Whitnedd the muddy rivers flowing into the sea. Anti business laws discourage foreigners from investing here and providing much needed income. Its time for change.
Legalization
Marijuana will be legalized in the next 5-10 years tops.
GMA
Depressing. I guess I should stop kidding myself that my fiance’ and I will ever get married here in the U.S. since he is still married there in the P.I. My parents were married there in the P.I. My dad was a playboy (I wouldn’t be surprised if I have half-brothers or sisters I don’t know about). My mom got tired of that so she left and came here. The Philippines is run by a bunch of HYPOCRITES!! I wouldn’t doubt it either if half of those law makers have had extra-marital affairs. I agree that there are so much more important matters such as starving people & poverty. Fix that first.