House transmits divorce bill

The bill legalizing absolute divorce in the country has been transmitted to the Senate, according to Albay Representative Edcel Lagman.

House Bill 9349, entitled An Act Re-instituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage, was approved on third and final reading on 22 May before the House adjourned sine die. The bill garnered 131 votes, 109 against, and 20 abstentions.

Lagman cited a letter dated 10 June from House Secretary General Reginald Velasco that was sent to Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero.

The lawmaker said the action aligned with his request, as outlined in his letter dated 28 May to Velasco. In the letter, he urged the immediate transmittal of the approved bill to the Senate “pursuant to the unanimous directive of the House.”

“This means that the transmittal to the Senate will not wait for the plenary action of the House when the sessions start on 22 July 2024, as previously announced by Velasco,” he noted.

The bill specifically includes marital infidelity and domestic violence as grounds for divorce, which are not presently covered under the Family Code.

It provides the “limited grounds and well-defined judicial procedures for divorce and aims to save children from the pain, stress, and agony brought about by their parents’ marital clashes or irreconcilable differences, as well as grant the divorced spouses the right to marry again for another chance at marital bliss.”

Under the bill, troubled couples may file a petition for absolute divorce under the following grounds:

1) Legal separation under Article 55 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as modified;

2) Annulment of marriage under Article 45 of the Family Code of the Philippines, as modified;

3) Separation of the spouses in fact for at least five years at the time the petition for absolute divorce is filed, and reconciliation is highly improbable;

4) Psychological incapacity as provided in Article 36 of the Family Code of the Philippines;

5) Irreconcilable differences; and

6) Domestic or marital abuse to include acts under Republic Act 9262 or the Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.