Philippine divorce bill’s passing hailed by women’s rights groups, but conservatives vow to fight back
- The bill could face roadblocks when it reaches the senate as pressures from conservative lawmakers and Catholic groups mount
- While annulments and legal separations are possible under Philippine law, both options are limited, women’s rights advocates say
Known as the Absolute Divorce Act, the bill was passed in the House on its third reading on Wednesday with 131 affirmative votes, with the count updated from its earlier announcement of 126 votes.
The Philippines and the Vatican are the only countries in the world that do not have laws enabling legal divorce.
According to its text, the bill is meant to liberate women from abusive relationships and help them “regain their dignity and self-esteem”.
“We are ready to celebrate. Our next step is the senate hearing in August,” Cici Leuenberger-Jueco, convenor of the lobbying group Divorce for the Philippines Now, told This Week in Asia shortly before the bill’s third reading.
Jueco has been lobbying for the reinstatement of divorce in the country over the past decade, following multiple unsuccessful attempts.
Women’s rights advocate Ann Angala said the bill’s passage on its third reading had made her hopeful of seeing the law’s enactment after a long delay.
Muslim Filipinos are currently the only citizens able to legally divorce under the country’s Code of Muslim Personal Laws.
In 1917, under the American occupation of the Philippines, divorce due to adultery or concubinage became legal. The divorce law was briefly expanded during the Japanese occupation of the country, when it allowed Filipinos to end their marriage on 11 grounds.
The law was repealed when the Philippines’ civil code was enacted in 1950 and replaced by provisions on legal separation.
When asked by a colleague in Congress about whether the new bill put married men at a disadvantage, Representative Edcel Lagman, the bill’s primary author, said: “The indelible data would show that wives are the aggrieved victims or parties in most cases of marital conflict.”
The bill’s co-author Representative Arlene Brosas of the Gabriela Women’s Party-list group said: “We have been waiting for this for a long time, and we are so close to having it passed in Congress … Let’s continue the fight until divorce is legalised, which would give women the chance to leave abusive relationships.”
Senator Joel Villanueva, the son of a popular Christian evangelist in the Philippines, is one of the staunchest opponents of divorce. He has advocated making annulments more affordable as they can cost over 150,000 to 300,000 Philippine pesos (US$2,500 to US$5,150) in legal fees, the latter of which is about 16 times more than the monthly average wage of Filipinos.
Church leaders continue to wield significant influence over the country’s policies, with 80 per cent of citizens identifying as Catholic.
“I urge members of Congress to reconsider the proposed divorce bill and instead focus on promoting policies and programmes that support marriage, strengthen families, and protect the well-being of all members of society,” Bishop Alberto Uy said in an interview with the church-run radio station Radyo Veritas.
“Divorce weakens the fabric of society by eroding the foundation of the family unit. It leads to social fragmentation, increased poverty and a host of other societal ills. By promoting divorce, we are contributing to the breakdown of social cohesion and the erosion of moral values.”
03:04
Waiting 10 years for divorce: Filipina woman battles to end an unwanted marriage
While annulments and legal separations are possible under Philippine law, women’s rights advocates say both options are limited and highly problematic.
Even for those capable of paying annulment fees, the limited grounds under which marriages can be annulled mean that it is not a viable option for many Filipinos.
Those grounds include getting married under the age of 21 without parental consent, mental incapacity at the time of marriage, homosexuality and a misrepresentation or fraudulent provision of the consent to marry.
Infidelity is not covered under annulment, which is one of the top three most common marriage problems among Filipinos, according to Leuenberger-Jueco, whose lobbying group comprises mainly overseas Filipino workers.
Observers say current laws are patriarchal and far more likely to penalise women than men in the event of marital conflict.
For example, husbands may use circumstantial evidence, such as photos, to charge wives with adultery, an offence punishable by up to six years in prison if proven guilty.
Married men face only up to four years of imprisonment under the country’s concubinage law if they are proven to live in the same house with another woman or have sexual intercourse “under scandalous circumstances”.
Leuenberger-Jueco shared that a member of her group was charged with adultery by her husband after being estranged for 18 years after the former requested child support.
“The law is unfair. It is easy to put someone in jail for adultery, even just by having a photo on your Facebook profile,” she said.
“We are constantly derided by anti-divorce people, religious leaders and politicians, but we will continue taking a stand. We have been through far worse with our ex-spouses, with no support coming from them. This is just a fraction of what our exes put us through,” Leuenberger-Jueco said.
While legal separation allows a man and woman to separate their properties and live apart, it does not end their marriage or permit them to remarry.
Leuenberger-Jueco said that a divorce law would mean freedom for many members of her group and other Filipinos trapped in unhappy marriages.
“It means getting back our maiden names and having a peaceful life without the stigma of being separated. For the majority, it means being able to find a new love. Many are already in new relationships … they would no longer be called mistresses. They would not be put in jail because of adultery,” she said.
