A lawmaker on Wednesday sought the passage of his bill that seeks to ease nullifying a marriage by making actual separation of at least five years as a valid ground for annulment.
At a hearing of the House committee on population and family relations, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said House Bill 1062 will help alleviate the lives of many estranged couples who suffer from failed marriages.
Barbers said his proposal that an actual separation of at least five years should be a valid ground for an annulment, as that time “is enough time for a estranged couple to determine if there are any chances of a reconciliation.”
“Why are we making it hard for aggrieved partners to annul their marriages? With the simple ground of a five-year separation as a valid reason, seeking an annulment of a marriage from court would be faster, simpler and less expensive,” Barbers said.
Unlike the other grounds for annulment, the court would not need to investigate or prove collusion between the parties because they would just have to show they had been separated for five years, he noted.
“This could be done through affidavits from their relatives or whatever documents the court may further require,” Barbers added.
Instead of being stuck in an unhappy marriage, or exposing the children to harm when their parents are fighting, or couples brazenly engaging in extramarital affairs, Barbers said these couples should have decided to find a way to make life easier for both of them and other parties concerned.
“We have to admit the fact that for other couples, there’s no forever,” the lawmaker said.
The committee also deliberated on HB 116 filed by Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, which seeks absolute divorce to dissolve a problematic marriage; HB 2380 filed by GabrielaParty-list Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas, which proposes to include provisions on divorce in the Family Code of the Philippines; and HB 6027, filed by Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat which seeks to dissolve the marriage based on irreconcilable differences between the spouses or “severe and chronic unhappiness.”