The Philippines remains the only country in the world, aside from the Vatican, where divorce does not legally exist. However, that might soon come to an end as the House Bill (HB) 9349, or the proposed Absolute Divorce Act has been approved and is now advancing to its final reading.
With 126 lawmakers voting in favor, 109 against, and 20 abstaining, the House of Representatives approved the House Bill No. 9349, or The Absolute Divorce Act, on its third and final reading, just two months after the House Committee on Population and Family Relations referred it.
As reported by Inquirer, The proposed Divorce bill under the Absolute Divorce Act introduces the following grounds for absolute divorce:
- Physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed against the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner;
- Physical violence or moral pressure to compel the petitioner to change religious or political affiliation;
- Attempt of respondent to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner, to engage in prostitution, or connivance in such corruption or inducement;
- Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six (6) years, even if pardoned;
- Drug addiction or habitual alcoholism or chronic gambling of the respondent;
- Homosexuality of the respondent;
- Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage, whether in the Philippines or abroad;
- Marital infidelity or perversion or having a child with another person other than one’s spouse during the marriage, except when upon the mutual agreement of the spouses, a child is born to them through in vitro fertilization or a similar procedure or when the wife bears a child after being a victim of rape;
- Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner, a common child or a child of the petitioner;
- Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than one (1) year;
- When the spouses are legally separated by judicial decree for more than two (2) years, either spouse can petition the proper Family Court for an absolute divorce based on said judicial decree of legal separation.
While it includes almost similar grounds for legal separation and annulment, the process under the proposed Divorce bill is expected to be faster and more convenient. Divorced spouses are also granted the right to remarry.
How The Absolute Divorce Act Is Paving A New Chapter For Filipino Marriages And Relationships
The 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey reveals that one in four married women suffered "physical, sexual or emotional violence by their husband or partner." The persistent prevalence of such violence poses a significant challenge, with many women trapped in abusive relationships and marriages due to the absence of legal remedies such as divorce laws.
The proposed Divorce bill paves a new chapter for Filipino marriages and relationships, providing a significant shift when it comes to protecting the rights and dignity of men, women, and children. Once enacted into law, the Absolute Divorce Act offers a legal remedy for individuals trapped in "unhappy and irreparable marriages," including abusive ones.
As the Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the author of the bill said, the Absolute Divorce Act is a "clear and resounding victory and signals the imminent liberation for Filipino wives who are entombed in toxic, abusive, and long-dead marriages."
