Lawmakers representing the women’s sector yesterday expressed full support to Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez’s pet bill on the dissolution of marriage as the House leader remained hopeful their Senate counterparts would heed the clamor for the passage of the measure which the Speaker said will “relieve a lot of couples locked in broken marriages.”

Gabriela Reps. Arlene Brosas and Emmie de Jesus told Daily Tribune that like Alvarez, they are also praying the senators will act on the bill the soonest possible time.

“We are also for passing the divorce bill or dissolution of marriage which basically includes the provisions of Gabriela Women’s partylist in its current substitute bill,” Brosas said.

“We hope the Senate will act on it immediately,” she added.

Brosas, however, lamented the bill had yet to be heard by the Senate appropriate committee. “We are still waiting for the Senate to conduct a committee hearing,” Brosas said.

Brosas made the statement after Alvarez reiterated his call for the government to resolve situations in which couples with failed marriages are trapped.

“I know for a fact that a lot of people were trapped in failed marriages — they have been wallowing in misery for quite some time. The government has to address that,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez’s position on failed marriages has also gained the backing of no less than President Rodrigo Duterte who, during the celebration of the Eid’l Fitr in Davao on Saturday, defended him from allegations that his filing of the marriage dissolution bill was self-serving, saying that as a member of the Manobo tribe, Alvarez can legally take as many wives as he can.

Duterte said it’s because of his roots and his advocacy that Alvarez has become a target of media attacks.

The Speaker said majority of the messages he received in his social media account were appeals for the enactment of the said bill.

Typical of such messages is the one sent by “Junjun,” who said: “Tanong lang po kung inyong mamarapatin, kailan po kaya tatalakayin ang divorce bill sa Senado para sana po matuluyan maisabatas? Sa totoo lang po marami ang nagsa-suffer sa hindi naging magandang relasyon babae man o lalaki. Nakapakaganda sir ang nasimulan nyo na yan, sana naman po—I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed — maisabatas na.” (I hope you wouldn’t mind if I ask, when would the divorce bill be tackled in the Senate so it could finally be enacted into law? The truth is many people have been suffering from bad relationships, whether men or women. What you initiated was very good, I hope — I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed — it would be enacted into a law.)

The comment is consistent with the result of the Social Weather Station surveys conducted between March 25 to 28 and December 8 to 16, 2017. Based on the surveys, majority of Filipinos agreed to legalize divorce in the country.

The results of several consultations the House conducted abroad on the marriage dissolution bill also revealed that majority of overseas Filipino workers groups support the proposed law.

In the Senate, there’s no indication the proposed bill on the dissolution of marriage will have the support of senators as none of the sitting 23 members has filed a counterpart measure.

But Senate President Vicente Sotto III said this does not mean that the matter cannot be taken up in the upper chamber.

“We will hear it as soon as we receive the transmittal from the House of Representatives (of the bill),” Sotto said.

The Senate leader made the assurance in the wake of appeals by some House members to take up the measure in the Senate, noting the lack of any committee hearing on this matter.

As it is, however, no senator has filed a similar proposal.

If that will be used as a gauge, Sen. Win Gatchalian said it could also be an indicator on whether his colleagues are in support of the bill.

Gatchalian himself admitted being against the divorce bill, especially if the measure is aimed at expediting the process.

“But I agree that the filing of annulment should be fast and affordable to our kababayan. Because as of now, the process of annulment takes up around three to five years,” Gatchalian said.

The senator echoed Sotto’s claims that the issue can still be discussed in the Senate even in the absence of any filed bill once the House bill is transmitted to them.

“It’s too early to discuss the chances of its passage since we have yet to scrutinize the House proposal,” Gatchalian said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte is against divorce but is open to other remedies to dissolve marriage, especially among couples that are impossible to reconcile.

Speaking at the Cotabato Polytechnic College in Cotabato City, Roque said there is a distinction between divorce and annulment. What the President is rejecting is divorce because he believes it would have a detrimental impact on the social fabric.

“The President himself has his marriage annulled. But that is different from divorce. It is the President’s personal opinion for thumbing down the proposed divorce bill,” Roque said.