COUPLES for Christ (CFC), a Catholic lay group, said it was vehemently opposed to the proposed divorce law, citing its potential impact on families and society.

The organization said youths from divorced families were statistically more likely to engage in criminal behavior and substance abuse and suffer from mental health issues, including suicidal tendencies, as well as underperform in school.

"No marriage is perfect. However, marriages formed in love and mutual understanding can be happy, enduring, and fulfilling," CFC said.

It points out that the absence of divorce encourages thoughtful partner selection and commitment in marriage, fostering stronger relationships. Married couples provide crucial support and guidance to their children, contrasting with the challenges faced by children of separated parents.

"Children of one-parent families are the silent and often unintended victims of the separation of their parents. Their scars can be emotional, psychological, financial or physical," the group said.

Several advocacy groups, mainly led by women's rights organizations, support the legalization of divorce. The supporters include women who have suffered abuse from spouses, Filipino wives abandoned by husbands who have remarried abroad, and couples unable to reconcile their differences.

The 2022 National Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) found that 17.5 percent of Filipino women ages 15-49 have experienced physical, sexual or emotional violence from their intimate partners.

In 2021, there were 8,399 reported cases of physical violence, 1,791 of rape and 1,505 of acts of lasciviousness.

The figures are worrying since, despite efforts to address this issue, violence against women persists, according to the Philippine Commission on Women.

House Bill 9349, known as the "Absolute Divorce Act," authored by Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman, was approved last month by the House of Representatives and awaits the nod from the Senate.

CFC, established in 1981, said that while it acknowledged the global trend toward legalizing divorce, it remained steadfast in its belief that God intends for marriage to be enduring and fulfilling.

"We strongly urge our country's leaders not to weaken the marriage bond but instead to work more aggressively to strengthen the family," it said.

Responding to CFC's manifesto, Lagman said in a statement on Sunday: "It is precisely because of human frailties like marital abuse, infidelity, and abandonment, among other mortal weaknesses, that marriages are totally destroyed beyond repair."

He said that "absolute divorce rescues spouses who are embattled because of their human weaknesses and their suffering children from a house on fire."

He said divorce allows "offended spouses, mostly the battered and tormented wives, to regain their freedom, self-esteem, agency and happiness even as there is a judicial decree on the care, custody and support of the children."

"The sanctity of marriage does not institute an iron-clad union which fetters and imperils the humanity of spouses," he said. Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said in a statement that divorce provides the legal intervention needed for failed marriages.

"While I welcome the inputs of the Christian lay groups on the divorce public debate, they miss the point entirely of why divorce is urgently and badly needed. They fail to directly address the real divorce issue," Chua said.

"Divorce is not about their religious beliefs, which they have no right to impose on others who do not share or adhere to those beliefs," he said.

"Divorce is about saving the spouses and children trapped, held hostage by marriages that have already failed," Chua said.

It has sent the bill to the Senate.

A total of 131 House members voted for the passage of the divorce bill, while 109 voted against it. Twenty lawmakers abstained from voting.

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

Grounds for annulment under Article 45 of the Family Code, as modified in the bill, also apply for absolute divorce under the bill.

Psychological and emotional violence, sexual violence, or economic abuse are also grounds for absolute divorce.

Once a marriage is dissolved, the divorcees can remarry.

Overseas Filipinos-petitioners shall be given priority by the court under the bill.

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