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House approves absolute divorce bill on Final Reading

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DAVAO CITY —The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on the third and final reading a bill reinstituting absolute divorce in the Philippines. With 126 affirmative votes, 109 negative votes, and 20 abstentions, the chamber passed House Bill (HB) 9349, also known as the Absolute Divorce Act.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the bill’s author, highlighted that its passage signifies a significant shift in societal attitudes towards marriage and relationships. Lagman emphasized that by legalizing divorce, the Philippines acknowledges the need to provide options for individuals trapped in “unhappy and irreparable marriages.”

“As the only country in the world besides the Vatican where divorce is still illegal, this is a clear and resounding victory and signals the imminent liberation for Filipino wives who are entombed in toxic, abusive, and long-dead marriages,” Lagman stated.

He clarified that the bill does not recognize “no-fault, quickie drive-thru, email or notarial divorces.” Instead, there are limited and reasonable grounds for divorce, and a petition must undergo judicial scrutiny to prevent abuse and collusion of the parties.

The bill outlines the grounds for absolute divorce, which include psychological incapacity, irreconcilable differences, domestic or marital abuse, sex reassignment surgery or transition, and separation for at least five years. Additionally, the grounds for legal separation under the Family Code of the Philippines are considered grounds for absolute divorce, such as:

  • Physical violence or grossly abusive conduct directed 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 the 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 during the marriage.
  • Attempt by the respondent against the life of the petitioner, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.
  • Abandonment of the petitioner by the respondent without justifiable cause for more than one year.

The bill also includes grounds for annulment of marriage under the Family Code of the Philippines as grounds for absolute divorce, such as lack of parental consent, insanity, fraud, force, intimidation or undue influence, impotence, and sexually transmissible diseases.

The bill provides that a valid foreign divorce secured by either the foreigner or Filipino spouse has the effect of a divorce in the country without the need for judicial process.

A petition for absolute divorce must be filed with the proper family court by the petitioner or joint petitioners within ten years from the occurrence or discovery of the cause for divorce. The proper family court will attempt to reunite and reconcile the concerned spouses during a mandatory 60-day cooling-off period after the filing of the petition. This cooling-off period does not apply in cases involving acts of violence against women and their children or attempts against the life of the other spouse, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.

If the parties do not reconcile by the end of the cooling-off period, the court will commence the trial immediately and is mandated to decide the petition within one year. If the parties reconcile at any time during the proceedings, the petition is dismissed. Even after the issuance of an absolute divorce decree, if the parties reconcile, the divorce decree will be nullified.

The decree of absolute divorce will have the effect of judicial dissolution of the marriage, returning the divorced spouses to their status of being single with the right to remarry.

A divorce decree will include provisions for the care, custody, and support of children, protection of their legitime, termination and liquidation of the conjugal partnership of gains or the absolute community, and alimony for the offended spouse.-with a report from PNA

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