During the hearing of the House Committee on Population and Family Relations related to bills concerning the passage of a divorce bill, Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante expressed that he would only be amenable to such legislation if annulment was removed from law.

“I cannot agree that there ought to be annulment and there ought to be divorce at the same time,” the solon said as part of his manifestation.

As part of his reasoning, Abante explained that he was more in favor of laws that preserved and fixed marriages that seem to be broken rather than passing legislative measures that allow the dissolution of such unions.

He further dissuaded a notion that was brought up during the session that divorce was “purely secular,” noting that the religion’s connection to the matter stems from a majority of weddings being conducted in places of worship.

“We can not separate the religious conviction of people as far as marriage is concerned, you can not separate that, why? Because most marriages are done in churches,” he stated in vernacular.

Abante also acknowledged that divorce was definitely needed in some cases, particularly those where abuse or irreparable conflict between a couple was existent and the best legal remedy that could be undertaken was dissolution of the marriage.

However, commenting on the view that absolute divorce has been taking a long time to be passed in the Philippines, the politician and Bible-Baptist pastor was adamant in shifting blame away from the government and to the individuals that get married.

“You do not blame the system, as far as the abuses being done in marriage. Who do you blame? You blame the one that got married, this is attitude,” he stated.

In addition, Abante noted that there were already laws in place that provided assistance for people in toxic or violent relationships where criminal charges can be filed against their partner or spouse.

Around the world, the Philippines remains the only sovereign nation, aside from Vatican City, that has yet to legalize and permit divorce aside from the annulment or the void of a marriage.

Based on the hearing of the Population and Family Relations committee, there are a total of nine pending house bills concerned with institutionalizing absolute divorce in the country.