THE bill seeking the dissolution of marriage is among the priority legislation of the House of Representatives, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said.
In fact, Alvarez said the House is eyeing the passage of the bill in March or before Congress adjourns for the Lenten break.
“My commitment is to have the bill approved in March when Congress goes on break. We will have it approved on third reading by then, Alvarez said.
Alvarez authored House Bill 6027 or “An Act Providing for Grounds for the Dissolution of a Marriage.”
Alvarez said the House would come up with a “simpler and cheaper process for the dissolution of marriage.”
HB 6027 provides that a marriage may be dissolved based on irreconcilable differences or severe and chronic unhappiness of the spouses which caused the irreparable breakdown of the marriage.
Alvarez said while he is uncertain if there is a counterpart measure on the dissolution of marriage in the Senate, he is confident that Senate President Aquilino Pimentel will support it.
The House committee on population and family relations chaired by Rep. Sol Aragones of Laguna earlier created a technical working group, headed by Lagman, whose task would be to consolidate all four bills on divorce namely, HBs 116, 1062, 2380, and Alvarez’s HB 6027.
Lagman is the author of House Bill 116 or the proposed “An Act Instituting Absolute Divorce In The Philippines And For Other Purposes.”
Under Lagman’s proposal, the grounds for a judicial decree of absolute divorce are the grounds for legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines and grounds for annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines.