Escudero wants PAO to handle marriage dissolution cases

SENATE President Francis Escudero yesterday said he will propose that the Public Attorneys’ Office handle cases of dissolution of marriage to make it accessible to the poor who are in unworkable marriages.

At present, he said, couples seeking annulment are forced to hire private lawyers which he said is very costly, while services of public or government lawyers are free.

Escudero noted that under the House of Representatives’ version of the divorce bill, there was no mention that the PAO can handle such cases.

Escudero has been against divorce and prefers annulment as the mode for getting away from troublesome marriages.

Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said he conducted a survey among his colleagues in the chamber on their stand on the divorce bill.

“I thought it was a good idea to put a survey because the House passed it already on third reading. So, I just want to get their thoughts,” Estrada said in a phone interview with Senate reporters.

As of yesterday afternoon, Estrada said that 11 out of the 24 senators have responded. In favor were Robin Padilla, Grace Poe, Risa Hontiveros, Imee Marcos, Pia Cayetano, and Raffy Tulfo. Against were Escudero, Estrada, Francis Tolentino, Joel Villanueva, and Ronald dela Rosa.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara was still “undecided” and need “to study the bill well.”

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said “I am leaning at this time to be in favor” of the proposed measure.

Estrada, explaining his “no” response, said that as a “devout Catholic,” he believes there are other ways to dissolve a marriage.

“We already have the annulment of marriage and maybe we can just speed up the process… Let’s face it annulment is very costly,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.

Senate Bill No. 2443 or an Act Expanding the Grounds for Dissolution of Marriage, was filed on Sept. 18, 2023. It is a substitute bill filed by Hontiveros, Tulfo, Padilla, Pia Cayetano, and Imee Marcos. It is pending on second reading.

Estrada said the measure “is not on our priority” despite the passage of a counterpart bill at the House.

The Senate needs a “majority plus one” vote of senators present during the voting process for a proposed measure to be passed.

Li