LAST Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved on second reading a bill on absolute divorce in the country. The intrepid representative from Albay, Edcel Lagman, is the author of the bill.

House Bill 9349, or the proposed Absolute Divorce Act, passed through voice voting. The bill stipulates the grounds for absolute divorce, which include psychological incapacity, irreconcilable differences, domestic or marital abuse, when one of the spouses undergoes a sex reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another, and separation of the spouses for at least five years.

Moreover, the grounds for legal separation under the Family Code of the Philippines can also be considered grounds for absolute divorce. These include:

– Physical violence or grossly abusive conduct 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;

– Final judgment sentencing the respondent to imprisonment of more than six years;

– Drug addiction, habitual alcoholism or chronic gambling;

– Homosexuality of the respondent;

– Contracting by the respondent of a subsequent bigamous marriage;

– Marital infidelity or perversion or having a child with another person other than one's spouse during the marriage;

– Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner; and

– Abandonment of petitioner by respondent without justifiable cause for more than a year.

At present, the only legal processes by which married couples could split up are filing for legal separation, which does not allow the parties to remarry, or an annulment, which means that the marriage never existed.

Annulment of marriage is a slow and expensive process, which is discriminatory against the poor who cannot afford lawyers to go through the process.

There are only two countries in the world where divorce is still illegal — the Philippines and the Vatican. This has left thousands of Filipinos stuck in marriages that are loveless or even violent.

There is a need for the divorce law because data shows that almost 1 in 5 married women in the Philippines have suffered from physical abuse from their husbands. Moreover, more than a third of separated women have been abused. Separation of bed and board also did not prevent their husbands from inflicting further harm on them.

In an interview, Congressman Lagman said: "I am very optimistic, and I think we will be able to have this law enacted before the end of the 19th Congress. I hope I don't have to go back to Congress to campaign again for the enactment of this bill."

But ranged against the bill is the powerhouse that is the Catholic Church. Fr. Jerome Secillano of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said that the divorce bill would destroy marriages and families.

"You weaken the commitment to marriage," he said. "You also perpetuate the cycle of violence. You are not treating the person who is violent; you are just merely freeing the abused person from that violent situation. So, that guy who may be abusive is not treated at all, he will be looking for another girl who is going to be his punching bag later on."

Lagman rebuts this claim. "This is not for everybody in the Philippines because many marriages are happy and enduring. These are for the less fortunate couples who, despite the fact that they say that marriage is solemnized in heaven, some marriages plummet into hell, and we have to rescue them."

Anita Baleda of the Philippine Commission on Women said divorce will give people another chance. "If you are a victim of violence in a marriage, this could mean a lot to you. If you are able to secure a divorce, this will enable you to move on with your life, and if you want to get married again, you have that chance..."

Couples who are legally separated or annulled still have access to each other's assets and liabilities for each other's debts. Moreover, the women still bear the last name of their former partners, which can cause problems when buying or selling property. The signature of the former partner is still needed in such instances.

One final argument is, how can a divorce law destroy marriages that are already destroyed? People make mistakes, and everybody deserves to have a second chance at happiness, love and life.

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