Absolute Divorce Bill, inaprubahan na ng House Panel; “Disastrous for Families,” CIBAC tutol dito

Na-aprubahan na ng House Panel nitong Martes ang bill na nagpapahintulot ng absolute divorce sa bansa.

Sa isang pahayag, inanunsyo ni Albay Representative Edcel Lagman na unanimously approved ng Committee on Population and Family Relations ang unnumbered substitute bill na ginawa ng Technical Working Group.

“Today is a momentous occasion for countless wives, who are battered and deserted, to regain their humanity, self-respect, and freedom from irredeemably failed marriages and utterly dysfunctional unions,” sabi ni Lagman.

Batay sa mambabatas, nilalayon ng panukalang batas na ibalik ang absolute divorce na dati nang isinasagawa noong panahon pa ng pre-Spanish, American colonial period, at Japanese occupation.

Nabanggit rin ni Lagman na pabor si House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco sa enactment, at nag-sumite na ng amendments si Velasco na kabilang na sa substitute bill.

Ang mga sumusunod ang mga amendments na kabilang sa substitute bill:

• provisions on court-assisted petitioners
• community-based pre-nuptial and post-matrimonial programs
• community-based women’s desks to provide assistance and support to victims of violence and abuse
• an appropriation language for the bill

Grounds for divorce

Sa ilalim ng measure na ito, kasama sa grounds ng absolute divorce ang grounds ng, legal separation, annulment ng marriage, at nullification ng marriage base sa psychological incapacity sa ilalim ng Family Code of the Philippines.

Ang mga sumusunod ang iba pang grounds para sa divorce:

• separation in fact for at least five years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed
• when one of the spouses undergoes a gender reassignment surgery or transitions from one sex to another
• irreconcilable marital differences as defined in the bill
• other forms of domestic or marital abuse which are also defined in the bill
• valid foreign divorce secured by either the alien or Filipino spouse
• a marriage nullified by a recognized religious tribunal

Dagdag pa ni Lagman na pinapawalang bisa ng absolute divorce ang marital union at nagpapahintulot sa mga divorced couples na mag-remarry.

Binigyan diin niya rin na ang Pilipinas lang ang nag-iisang bansa sa buong mundo ang nagbabawal ng absolute divorce bukod sa Vatican.

“It is hard to believe that all the other countries collectively erred in instituting absolute divorce in varying degrees of liberality and limitations. An en masse blunder is beyond comprehension,” aniya.

“Disastrous for Families”

Samantala, nagpahayag ng pagkadismaya si Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC) Party List Representative at House Deputy Speaker na si Bro. Eddie Villanueva, sa pag-apruba ng House panel sa absolute divorce bill, at sinasabing ito raw ay “disastrous for families.”

“Marriage, as an inviolate commitment, would now be reduced to a contractual relationship, subject to the whims of unscrupulous individuals,” pahayag niya.

Naniniwala ang CIBAC na kahit anong batas na nakakapag-downplay sa “not-to-be-broken status” ng pamilya bilang isang social institution ay ” inherently unconstitutional” at salungat sa deeply-held value ng mga Filipino na “preserving and fighting for marriage.

“Injecting absolute divorce in the society is a sure formula for raising fatherless and motherless Filipino children,” binigyan diin ni Villanueva.

Dagdag pa ni Villanueva na naiintindihan nila na ang ibang mga marriages ay “hostile,” ngunit naniniwala siya na hinding-hindi magiging solusyon ang divorce bill sa mga problematic unions.

“The legal remedies available such as legal separation, annulment, and declaration of nullity of marriage are sufficient to address them,” aniya.

“It will artificially manufacture reservations in the minds of future couples, who would be enabled to enter and exit marriage conveniently when their expectations are unmet. It will wreck families and spell disaster for Filipino children,” dagdag niya.

Sinabi niya rin na ang mas “pressing policy action” ngayon ay hindi divorce bill, kundi ang paggawa ng existing remedies ng gobyerno na maging mas accessible sa mahihirap, “by making the process cheaper and the resolution of cases faster.”

Source: ABSCBN, GMA News