RH first before divorce – senators

MANILA, Philippines –  Senators want to resolve debates on the Reproductive Health (RH) bill first before tackling the divorce bill.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Joker Arroyo and Panfilo Lacson said there is a need to study the proposals to allow divorce in the country and put on hold any discussions at least until the RH issue is resolved.

“I still have to study it. There are many who are in favor, we have many issues at hand,” Enrile said. “I’m not saying that it’s not the right time. We should wrap up the controversial ones first, the RH bill and the bill on the protection of the unborn and the mother.”

Arroyo shared Enrile’s concern.

“We should finish the RH bill before we proceed with the divorce bill because that’s another controversial matter,” Arroyo said.

On Monday, Gabriela party-list Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan announced that the House of Representatives’ committee on revision of laws would take up House Bill 1799 or the proposed divorce bill today.

Ilagan’s announcement came just hours after Malta voted in a referendum in favor of legislating divorce, making the Philippines the only country left without a divorce law.

Ilagan’s bill is the first of two divorce measures pending before the 15th Congress. Ilagan filed her bill in July 2010 while Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez filed a similar bill last March.

Lacson questioned the timing of the introduction of the divorce bill in the House, which came at the height of the controversies hounding the RH bill.

“I don’t think the country is ready for that kind of legislation. It will further divide our country through the Catholic Church,” he said, adding that divorce is an even more contentious issue.

But Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano believes that the present laws can provide an unhappy couple other avenues to dissolve their marriage.

However, he admitted that this would not be accessible to the poor because they still have to hire a lawyer. He said he believes that divorce is not in the culture of Filipinos and it would ruin the family.

“If we are the only country in the world that has no divorce, maybe the rest of the world is wrong and we are right,” the minority leader added.

Drawing the battle lines

But Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III suspects that advocates of the RH bill are behind the campaign to legalize divorce in the country, precisely to weaken the Church’s stand against the population control measure.

“I see it as a political strategy. I believe the divorce bill is being pushed by RH advocates at the House,” Sotto said at the weekly media forum in Manila hosted by the Catholic Media Network.

“They want to weaken the Catholic Church and bring it down to its knees to agree to the RH bill because divorce is more serious,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said after RH bill and divorce, these people would then push for same sex marriage.

“Believe me, after RH and divorce, same sex marriage is hovering in the air. That’s for sure,” Pimentel told the same forum.

However, he said the divorce bill could be junked using secular arguments found in the Constitution.

“Looking at secular arguments, that bill would already be defeated because it destroys the family which is the basic unit of society,” Pimentel said.

Rodriguez, however, clarified that the divorce bill he filed was just a remedy for Filipinas married to foreigners who divorced them abroad.

“Even if they say we are the last country that does not have any divorce law, let it be that way and let us be proud of it. So what? Let’s not be swayed by comments like that for the sake of our family values,” he said.

The veteran administration lawmaker said his bill was meant to give recourse and assistance to Filipino women divorced by their foreign spouses by amending the Family Code.

He said Filipino women are at a disadvantage as they have to make the necessary local court filings and prove they were divorced, a process both expensive and tedious.

“As such, the Filipino spouse is once again put at a disadvantage considering that the foreign spouse is already free to remarry,” Rodriguez said.

“The Filipino spouse need not seek judicial recognition or enforcement of the foreign judicial decree of absolute divorce and its registration by the civil registrar shall be sufficient for the issuance of a marriage license,” he said in his bill.

Palace still uncommitted on divorce

Malacañang kept its silence and refused to be dragged into the debate on divorce.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing that the Palace “doesn’t have a position on that yet” and that President Aquino had not discussed the issue with them.

During the campaign, the President expressed reservations about divorce but said there must be some modifications on annulment or legal separation processes to help those who made a mistake in choosing their life partners.

However, Valte said that like any other issue, they were prepared to consider the opinions of all stakeholders.

The President recently ran counter to the Catholic Church’s position after he announced support for the RH bill.

Valte said they were not being cautious because of the Church but only because the issue was not yet discussed.

In August last year the President expressed opposition to a divorce law and reiterated he would prefer legal separation, although estranged couples should be allowed to remarry.

“My own personal position on this point – but a study has to be made – is divorce is a no-no,” he said amid renewed proposals in Congress at that time to legalize divorce in the country.

Aquino, a 50-year-old bachelor, said he could not support a practice common in Las Vegas, Nevada, in which “the stereotype is you get married in the morning (and) you can get divorced in the afternoon.”

“But I do recognize that there have been unions that were wrong and no matter what interventions are done, no matter what counseling is done, they really can’t stay together and there is danger to either one or both parties in that marriage, particularly the children,” he said.

The President said couples who pursue legal separation should be allowed to marry again. “(In) legal separation, it will be very, very stringent. You really have to ascertain that there really are irreconcilable differences over a long period,” he said.

“At the end of the day they should be allowed to remarry. We have legal separation today (but they) can’t marry. Pity those who made a mistake,” he added.

At present, the country allows legal separation and annulment. Once the court approves an annulment of marriage, the parties may choose to remarry.

A legal separation, on the other hand, allows spouses to live separately but does not cut the bonds of marriage. They are not allowed to marry again. – Helen Flores, Aurea Calica, Paolo Romero, Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)