Lawmakers in the 20th Congress have revived efforts to legalize absolute divorce in the Philippines after the Senate failed to act on the contentious proposal narrowly passed by the House of Representatives in the previous Congress.

At least two measures were filed as early as the opening of the 20th Congress on 30 June. House Bills 108 and 210 both seek to legalize divorce as another legal recourse, aside from the expensive and time-consuming annulment, to dissolve an irreparably broken or dysfunctional marriage.

4Ps Rep. JC Abalos’ HB 108 proposes a brief window of 60 days of reconciliation for married couples in crisis, while HB 210 of Makabayan lawmakers Antonio Tinio and Renee Co requires a mandatory six-month cooling-off period.

The proper courts would be mandated to exert all efforts to reunite and reconcile spouses within these timeframes, which could only be activated after the filing of a petition for absolute divorce.

But under Makabayan’s proposal, the cooling-off period “shall not apply in cases which invole acts of violence against women and their children, or [an] attempt against the life of the other spouse, a common child, or a child of the petitioner.”

According to a study cited by Abalos, at least 17.5 percent of women between 15 and 49 years old have experienced physical, sexual or emotional abuse from their partners.

Abalos posits that the enactment of the bill will “safeguard children from marital strife and empower vulnerable spouses, particularly in abusive relationships, to rebuild their lives.”

"In the context of divorce, a marriage is recognized as valid but is terminated. The termination occurs not due to any defect or omission at the time of the marriage ceremony, but rather as a result of circumstances that arise during the marriage itself — which is a reality that most individuals often fail to acknowledge," the explanatory note reads.

The Makabayan bloc’s bill adopts the consolidated version of the similar measure passed on final reading by the House in the 19th Congress, which includes grounds such as serious physical or sexual violence, compulsive gambling, bisexuality, and separation for at least five years with no possibility of reconciliation.

Other grounds include psychological incapacity, cases where a spouse has undergone gender reassignment surgery, as well as instances where a foreign spouse disappears for at least four years without communication.

The proposed Absolute Divorce Act passed the divided House by a hairline in May last year. Its counterpart measure in the Senate, however, languished at the committee level.

The Philippines remains the only country aside from the Vatican, the seat of the Roman Catholic Church, that outlaws absolute divorce, preserving the sanctity of marriage.

Enacting absolute divorce has long been the subject of controversy and a flashpoint between progressive and religious groups.

The Catholic Church, along with conservative groups and anti-divorce lawmakers, has argued that breaking the marital union is a grievous act against God.

Moreover, they have branded it as a blatant violation of the Constitution, which considers marriage an inviolable social institution and a foundation of the family that the state shall safeguard.

The proposal in the 19th Congress sought to allow ex-married couples to remarry after securing an absolute divorce under specific grounds and judicial processes.

The measure was first passed by the House of Representatives in 2018 during the 17th Congress, but the bill effectively died due to the Senate’s failure to pass the counterpart measure.

Anti-divorce lawmakers have long proposed to make the annulment of marriage more affordable and accessible rather than legalize absolute divorce.