Divorce Bill Presentation (Revised)

The Philippines has a long-standing opposition against divorce, to aggravation of unhappy married couples. But the Divorce Bill can change that.

LAST ONE STANDING. A couple looks at the sunset in the Manila Bay, uncertain of their future. The Philippines is the only country remaining that has yet to allow divorce as a remedy.

Luzviminda C. Ilagan and EmercianaA. De Jesus, two representatives from GABRIELA Women’s Party, filed House Bill 1799 or the Divorce Bill of the Philippines, which promises to give an affordable and quick remedy for unhappy couples to get out of marriage. The co-authors reasoned that non-Muslim Filipinos deserve the rights and benefits of divorce the same way Muslim Filipinos got ever since the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of 1977 granted them divorce.

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T H E A r t i k u l o29 September 2015

by Budz Marata

A fictional publication in the Philippines

by Carl Paulo Migalang

They say that “marriage is not all about rainbows and unicorns and sometimes the pouring of the rain is inevitable. No matter how persevere you are to evade such rain, at the end of the day; you’ll get soak and wet.”The state values and protects the sanctity of marriage as a sacred union, and family as a basic institution in the society. In Filipino culture, it generally discourages break-ups that lead to cutting of marital ties. To prevent this, the Philippines provides cultural and legal safeguards to maintain marital relations. These remedies keep many couples together in spite of marriage breakdown.

In the face of reality, failed and unhappy marriages exist across all Filipino classes especially from marginalized sectors who have no access to trial courts. Because of this, couples end up separating without benefit from legal procedure. Countless petitions were filed since the effectivity of the Family Code in 1988 for declaration of nullity, as many couples get desperate to get out of their failed marriages. (continue at page 3)

TILL DET(RIMENT) DO US PART. As of today, unhappily-married couples have to resort to either annulment or legal separation to get out of marriage. However, annulment is a very expensive and lengthy process that everyone cannot simply afford, while legal separation, in spite of its ease, does not allow remarriage.

T H E A r t i k u l o29 September 2015 A fictional publication in the Philippines

(from page 2)Historically, divorce had been part of our legal system. In the beginning of the 16th century, before the Spanish colonial rule, absolute divorce was widely practiced among ancestral tribes such as the Tagbanwas (Palawan) the Gadangs (Nueva Vizcaya), the Sagdans and Igorots (Cordilleras), and the Manobos, B’laans and Moslem (Visayasand Mindanao Islands). Divorce was also available during the American period in 1917 and during the Japanese occupation, up until 1950.

However, on August 30, 1950, the New Civil Code took effect and divorce was barred under Philippine Law. The same rule was adopted in the Family Code of 1988, which replaced the provisions of the New Civil Code on marriage and the family. Although the Family Code still denied divorce, it introduced the concept of “psychological incapacity” as a ground for declaring a marriage void.

There are sentiments from the history that left the wisdom of legalizing divorce to the Congress by the framers of 1987 Philippine Constitution, thus, it does not prohibit the legalization of divorce.

T H E A r t i k u l o

Luzviminda Ilagan (top) and Emerenciana De Jesus (bottom) co-authored House Bill 1799, or the Divorce Bill of the Philippines. The bill is currently pending in Congress awaiting approval from the House of Representatives.

As mentioned in their Explanatory Note of House Bill 1799

29 September 2015 A fictional publication in the Philippines

An article from iMoney Philippines, Interpreted by Budz Marata


One of the biggest justifications for the legalization of divorce is that divorce is cheaper than annulment. But how expensive could the whole process of annulment be? A 2015 online article from iMoney Philippines provided financial figures on every step of the process, from filing to pleading to appearing. Unhappy couples, take note.

,

29 September 2015

FILING FEES(up to Php 10,000.00)

ACCEPTANCE FEES(Php 100,000.00 and up)

PLEADING FEES(Php 5,000.00 – Php 10,000 per

pleading)

APPEARING FEES(Php 5,000.00 – Php 10,000 per

appearance)

DOCTOR/ PSYCHIATRIST FEES(price varies)


3 to 5 years

T H E A r t i k u l o29 September 2015

2 years


An infographic by Jezen Esther Pati


The Family Code will undergo a

serious revision once House Bill 1799 is

approved and signed into law, but which

provisions will be affected by the bill? Let’s take a look at

some of the affected provisions in case

this controversial bill gets approval from

the Congress and the President – CBCP’s

outright disapproval be damned.


An infographic by Jezen Esther Pati

T H E A r t i k u l o29 September 2015 A fictional publication in the Philippines

by Ysmael Padilla

House Bill 1799, or the Divorce Bill of the

Philippines, is still pending action from Congress, but

what do some of our political figures have to say

about this controversial bill? Who agrees, who

disagrees, and why do they say so? We’ll take a look at the various opinions from

some of the proponents and opponents of the Divorce

Bill.


"We should talk about it. The current situation is not good

enough especially in situations of wife battering or when children

are beat up … I believe harmonious societies start with

harmonious families."

"It's better for a couple to separate if they're not understanding each other anymore. It would be better that way for me."

"I'm not in favor of divorce because I see more couple will divorce when such law is

passed. We should also respect the Catholic Church's teachings against it."

“It is now high time that Filipinos start discussing divorce and for

legislators to draft a good version of it for the conservative Philippines."

"I think the government should strengthen the family, not break it up. Besides, we already have annulment and then there's legal separation."

"Responsible parenthood is important. Parents should know where their kids at, who they're

with, and what they're doing. We must preserve sanctity of

marriage and family life."

"I'm not in favor of divorce because I see more couple will divorce when such law is passed. We should also respect the Catholic Church's teachings against it."



"I'm against divorce... I think annulment is enough. We should improve the parameter for citing 'psychological incapacity'. I think we should fix that system rather than allowing a 'no-fault' divorce.”

The president of the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP) believes failed marriages cannot be used as an argument to pass a divorce law, saying divorce only encourages a married couple to no longer work out their differences.

"Not in favor. But we should loosen the rules of annulment. My sister got her marriage and it was very expensive. The problem with divorce is I don’t want the type of divorce that can create dysfunctional family."

"There have been divorce bills filed in each Congress but they never passed. We don't need a divorce law because we already have civil annulment. It protects the two parties and the children. Divorce law is not necessary. It would further divide the country."

"Look at the U.S. Has America benefited from divorce? There are more negative impacts on American families. A lot of teachings in the church are based on empirical evidence."

29 September 2015

In a statement, CBCP president and Lingayen DagupanArchbishop Socrates Villegas took exception to a statement of Sen. Pia Cayetano that the Philippines having no divorce law is nothing to be proud of.

"To that, I hasten to add: Neither is it something for which we should be apologetic! That all countries of the world save ours have [a divorce law] is no compelling reason to have it," Villegas said.

Villegas said the reasons being advanced for a divorce law fail to convince since the reasons only prove that only mature people should enter into marriage.

He said that if a spouse is oppressive and cruel, a woman could avail of legal separation or annulment of voidable marriages. He noted that nullity of marriage because of psychological incapacity is also available under the Constitution.

CBCP SAYS NO. Being a Catholic group that sticks to Christian values and morals, the religious organization does not favour divorce as a remedy to failed marriages.


Documents

Divorce Bill Presentation (Revised)