House OKs divorce bill anew; prods Senate to pass own version

THE House of Representatives yesterday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to legalize absolute divorce and allowing the dissolution of marriages to liberate couples in problematic marriages.

The divorce bill was first approved by the House in March 2018 under the 17th Congress.

However, the bill only gathered dust in the Senate after senators sat on the measure.

Voting 126-109 with 20 abstentions yesterday, congressmen approved Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman’s House Bill No. 9349 during the last day of the Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress.

Lagman’s bill seeks to institute absolute divorce as an alternative mode of dissolving an irreparably broken or dysfunctional marriage in the country which is predominantly Roman Catholic.

Lagman told the plenary after the bill’s passage, “Starting tomorrow (Thursday), we shall begin our campaign in the Senate so that its counterpart measure which has long been ripe for plenary deliberation shall similarly be passed,”

Under the bill, troubled couples may file a petition for absolute divorce using the following grounds: legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as modified; annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as modified; separation of the spouses in fact for at least five years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed, and reconciliation is highly improbable; psychological incapacity as provided in Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines; irreconcilable differences; and domestic or marital abuse to include acts under Republic Act 9262, or the Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.

Lagman said that “as the only country in the world besides the Vatican where divorce is still illegal, this is a clear and resounding victory and signals the imminent liberation for Filipino wives who are entombed in toxic, abusive, and long-dead marriages.”

“By legalizing divorce, the Philippines acknowledges the need to provide options for individuals trapped in unhappy and irreparable marriages. This recognition reflects an evolving understanding of the complexities and challenges that can arise within marital