House panel merges measures to include church annulment
A house panel on Thursday moved to consolidate bills instituting divorce in the Philippines, the only country in the world where it is not legal.
The House committee on population and family relations on Thursday approved in principle House Bills (HBs) 78, 2593, 3843, 3885, 4957, 4998, along with HBs 1021 and 1593, setting the stage for the consolidated measure’s endorsement for plenary discussions.
Former Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, one of the advocates of divorce, said that instituting divorce in the country will allow the husband and the wife to “correct” their errors. He said allowing for the dissolution of a “toxic” marriage, through divorce, would be “best way forward.”
“Marriage is beautiful. But only for those who get it right. And for those who do get it right, congratulations! (The) reality, however, shows us a different picture for most people. Many get marriage wrong,” Alvarez said as he sponsored his bill instituting absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage.
Alvarez said the state should not “forcibly chain together those who should be allowed to distance and part ways in peace.”
“For this situation, a toxic marriage, like an exploding star pulled back and collapsing unto itself, becomes a blackhole where nothing, not even the light, hope and love, can survive or escape,” Alvarez added, saying many marriages are mistakes.
HB 1021 recognizes church annulment or church dissolution of marriage and HB 1593 recognizes the civil effects of church annulment, church declaration of nullity, and church dissolution of marriage.
The committee designated one of the bill’s authors, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, to lead the technical working group to work on the consolidated bill.
“May I move to approve in principle House Bill Nos. 78, 1021, 1593, 2593, 3843, 3885, 4957, and 4998 subject to the submission of a substitute bill encompassing the various bills to be crafted by a technical working group soonest with special concern on the civil recognition of marriages dissolved by the Catholic Church and other recognized religious denomination as a possible separate measure but a companion bill […]?” Lagman said.
Lagman’s bill, HB 77, provides that the divorce petition will undergo a judicial process where proof of the cause for the divorce is established and that the marriage has completely collapsed without any possibility of reconciliation.
Lagman’s bill also allows divorced couples to remarry.
Tingog party-list lawmakers on Thursday lauded the approval at the committee level of the party’s proposed measure seeking civil recognition of church annulment to make it accessible and inexpensive.
“On behalf of the Tingog Party List, I’d like to thank the committee for its favorable action on House Bill (HB) 1593. This is a significant development that provides hope for an efficient and more affordable procedure to remedy the situation of couples trapped in an irreparable relationship,” said Rep. Jude Acidre, who co-authored the measure with fellow Tingog Party List Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez.
The action of the committee was prompted by Lagman’s motion to approve eight measures in principle and assign a TWG to craft a substitute proposal on the civil recognition of marriages dissolved by the Catholic Church and other religious denominations.
In his sponsorship speech before the committee, Acidre said that once HB 1593 becomes a law, a declaration of nullity decreed by the Church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment.
“This removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process. As a result, Catholics who have sought annulment in the Church should not anymore be ‘long oppressed by the darkness of doubt’ over whether their marriages already declared null and void should also be recognized as such by the state,” Acidre said.
HB 1953 proposes that a marriage duly and legally solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi, or presiding elder of an established church or religion in the Philippines which is subsequently annulled, dissolved or declared a nullity in a final judgment or decree in accordance with the canons and precepts of the church or religious sect, shall have the same effect as a decree of annulment, dissolution or declaration of nullity issued by a competent court.
The authors of the measure said their proposal was an offshoot of Pope Francis’ position to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church.
Jerome Secillano, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Public Affairs Committee Executive Secretary, said the Catholic Church remains staunchly opposed to legalizing divorce.
Iglesia Ni Cristo spokesman Edwil Zabala said their church also believes in the sanctity of marriage.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) rallied behind the proposed measures legalizing divorce in the Philippines.
At a congressional hearing, Senior Gender and Development Specialist Armando Orcilla Jr. of the PCW Policy Development, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Division said: “As to divorce and dissolution of marriage, we fully support these bills filed to free married couples from the tedious process of annulment, be it in a form of divorce or dissolution of marriage.”
Orcilla said studies have shown that women are mostly “at the losing end” when a marriage fails.
“In such cases, women are sometimes solely burdened to financially provide for the children and balance this with their personal struggles of loneliness and social stigma due to cultural stereotypes under the current legal system,” he said.
“We hope that the bills on divorce will have provisions that will ensure that the divorce process is simplified and reduce the cost of the procedure especially for indigents,” he said.
“These divorce measures will completely give both parties a chance to start anew,” Orcilla added.