THE House of Representatives has sent the absolute divorce bill to the Senate, setting the stage for heated debates there, in the only country left outside the Vatican without such a law.

House Bill (HB) 9349 was approved by the House on third and final reading on May 22, with 131 lawmakers voting in favor of it, 109 voting against it and 20 abstaining.

Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman, the principal author of the bill, said its passage in the House signified a significant shift in societal attitudes toward marriage and relationships in the country, but the bill faces stiff opposition from conservative senators, including the newly installed Senate President Francis Escudero and the man he replaced, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri.

In a statement Wednesday, Lagman said the bill was sent to the Senate with a letter on June 10.

The bill must be approved by the Senate before it can be signed into law by the President.

In the Philippines, there is no divorce except among Muslims.

"The necessity for this legislation has only grown more urgent over the years," Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Arlene Brosas said in a press statement.

Gabriela said the 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey showed that 18 percent of women who had intimate partners had experienced violence, while almost 40 percent of women ages 15 to 49 had faced controlling behaviors from their partners.

In May, Lagman said HB 9349 does not recognize "quickie or no-fault divorces," as it contained limited grounds for divorce, and the divorce petition must be scrutinized by a court.

Under the bill, the petition for absolute divorce can be filed in court by a spouse or jointly by the spouses within 10 years "from the occurrence or discovery of the cause for divorce or from the effectivity of the Absolute Divorce Act, whichever comes later."

The bill mandates public prosecutors to investigate to determine whether the spouses are colluding or whether either coerced the other to file the petition.

Grounds for absolute divorce under the bill include physical violence or "grossly abusive conduct" toward the petitioner, a common child or the petitioner's child; a final sentence to imprisonment of over six years; drug addiction, habitual alcoholism or chronic gambling; bigamous marriage; and marital infidelity, perversion and having a child with a person other than the spouse, except if they agreed to have a child through in vitro fertilization or a similar procedure or if the wife was raped and got pregnant.

Also among the grounds for absolute divorce is moral pressure to change religious or political affiliation; attempt to corrupt or induce the petitioner, a common child, of the petitioner's child to engage in prostitution, "or connivance in such corruption or inducement;" homosexuality; making an attempt on the petitioner's life, a common child or the petitioner's child; and abandonment without justifiable cause for over a year.

Under the bill, either spouse is allowed to seek absolute divorce if they have been legally separated for over two years.

The grounds for annulment under Article 45 of the Family Code, as modified in the bill, are also the grounds for absolute divorce under the bill.

Separation, in fact, for at least five years with "highly improbable" reconciliation; psychological incapacity, whether it "existed at the time of the marriage or supervenes after the marriage"; and irreconcilable differences were also grounds for absolute divorce under the bill.

The bill includes psychological and emotional violence, sexual violence, or economic abuse as grounds for absolute divorce.

"When one of the spouses undergoes a sex reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another, the other spouse is entitled to petition for absolute divorce with the transgender or transsexual as respondent, or vice versa," the bill says.

HB 9349 mandates a 60-day period after a divorce petition is filed, during which the court must make efforts to reconcile the parties unless it is a summary judicial proceeding or involves cases of violence.

Summary judicial proceedings are allowed under the bill in cases of de facto separation for at least five years or legal separation for at least two years; a bigamous marriage; a sentence of imprisonment for at least six years; or sex reassignment surgery or transition into another sex.

Under the bill, an absolute divorce means the marriage is dissolved, and the divorcees can remarry.

The bill states that custody of minor children and visitation rights of the party not granted primary custody shall be decided by the proper family court "in accordance with the best interests of the children, subject to the provisions of Article 213 of the Family Code of the Philippines."

However, children under 7 years old must remain with their mother unless the court finds "compelling reasons to order otherwise."

Also, the bill bars child custody from being given to the offending spouse when it comes to certain grounds for divorce.

"Unless otherwise agreed upon in a marriage settlement executed before the celebration of the marriage, the conjugal partnership of gains or the absolute community shall be dissolved and liquidated, and the assets shall be equally divided between the spouses excluding the paraphernal or exclusive properties of either spouse, in accordance with the Family Code of the Philippines," the bill reads.

"In addition to the equal share in the assets of the absolute community or conjugal partnership, the offended spouse who is not gainfully employed shall be entitled to spousal support or alimony from the offending spouse: Provided, That the support shall not exceed three (3) years from the finality of the decree of absolute divorce and shall cease when the offended spouse secures gainful employment or remarries ...," the bill stipulates.

Under the bill, the three-year period may be extended by the court if the offended spouse entitled to support is a senior citizen, a person with disability or has limited educational attainment.

"The proper Family Court shall provide for child support pursuant to the pertinent provisions of the Family Code. The court shall give the paramount consideration to the best interest of the children in accordance with Article 194 of the Family Code of the Philippines," the bill read.

In case the offending spouse is an overseas Filipino, a copy of the order to grant spousal and child support shall be furnished to the Department of Migrant Workers and the overseas Filipino's employer for compliance," the bill says.

The bill recognizes a valid foreign divorce. Under the bill, it "must be authenticated by the Philippine Consul in or proximate to the foreign country where it was secured, and subsequently registered with the proper Civil Registry Office in the Philippines" or the Office of the Philippine Consul where the Filipino lives.

As to marriages nullified or dissolved by the Roman Catholic Church "or any other recognized religious sect," the bill states that these "shall be granted civil recognition as if a divorce had been granted in accordance with the provisions of this act," without undergoing judicial process if authenticated by the proper religious authorities, and registered with the proper civil registry office.

Lagman assured the bill's critics that a divorce law would not destroy marriages because "divorce does not put asunder a marriage as the union has long perished."

"What will be before the Family Court is a cadaver of a marriage. Divorce is not the monster plaguing a marriage. It is marital infidelity, abandonment, violence and cruelty, among others, which are the devils that destroy marriages," he said.

Lagman said a divorce law is constitutional since the Constitution does not prevent Congress from enacting a divorce law, even as it does not offend the dogma of the Catholic Church, which has its own canonical dissolution of marriage. "All other Catholic and Christian countries in the world have long legitimized divorce," he said.

Lagman also said divorce was not for everybody.

"It is for those who have just and valid causes to be adjudicated by the proper court. It is only an alternative remedy and will not apply to the overwhelming majority of Filipino married couples who have enduring and loving marriages," he said.

"Divorce is not the worst thing that can happen to children. Having to live in a home filled with strife, discord and violence is much worse," he said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Martin Romualdez said he was set to meet with Escudero today to discuss the legislative priorities of the administration and to ensure open communication between the House and the Senate.

Speaking to reporters at the 126th Independence Day celebrations in Bulacan, Romualdez said the meeting was important because it would allow them to align the legislative agenda of both chambers.

He noted that the House has passed all the priority measures of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., especially those that were outlined in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) and the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council.

"At the House of Representatives, we have finished and passed all priority measures of the president ..., but we know there is a new leadership, so there could be new priorities that they could recommend, and we will listen to that," Romualdez said.

He said cooperation between the House and Senate was "crucial" for the successful implementation of the administration's programs and reforms.

Congress is in recess after adjourning the second regular session of the 19th Congress on May 22 and will resume for the third regular session on July 22, where President Marcos delivers his third SONA.

WITH RED MENDOZA

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