House panel approves divorce bills in principle  

MANILA, Philippines —  A panel of the House of Representatives expressed openness to a bill that may finally pave the way for divorce after it approved in principle the measure providing for dissolution of marriage.

“The Philippines will soon join the rest of the world in the legalization of absolute divorce after the House Committee on Population and Family Relations approved in principle several bills on divorce and dissolution of marriage,” divorce advocate Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said yesterday.

He made the pronouncement after the aforementioned House committee approved House Bill 1593 (Church Nullity Act of 2022) and endorsed it to a technical working group (TWG) tasked with crafting a substitute measure.

This will be consolidated with related bills tackled during yesterday’s hearing – HBs 78, 1021, 1593, 2593, 3843, 3885, 4957 and 4998 – seeking the legalization of divorce or dissolution of marriage in the Philippines.

The TWG’s mandate is to eventually craft a substitute proposal on the civil recognition of marriages dissolved by the Catholic Church and other religious denominations in the country.

Lawmakers from party-list Tingog, led by Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, who also authored HB 1593, commended the committee headed by Rep. Ian Paul Dy of Isabela’s third legislative district. Dy carried the motion after hearing no objections from members.

‘Civil Partnership’ bill

For the third time now in his last term as congressman, former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has re-filed his Civil Partnership Bill, hoping Congress will pass it this time around.

“Who knows, it can be strike three, or it can be third time’s the charm. I’m not new to this. Some battles you win, some you don’t,” Alvarez said, referring to House Bill 6782, allowing same-sex and opposite sex couples to enter into a “Civil Partnership.”

“But in either case, there is truth to the saying that politics is the art of the possible. Let’s file this, get the word out, and let us see what happens,” he remarked.

Alvarez first filed it in 2016 when he first assumed office as lawmaker, re-filed it in 2019 during the 18th Congress (July 2019 to June 2022) and filed it again for the third time in the 19th Congress, which started in July 2022 and will end on June 2025.

In July 2022, when the current Congress convened, the divorce bill that never took off in Congress for several decades has been re-filed anew, which may put to test the Catholic church’s influence that had been harsh during the campaign of President Marcos.

Its principal author, Lagman, is nevertheless still pinning his hopes on the Marcos administration, and is “finally hopeful that beleaguered and tormented wives can soon be liberated from irretrievably dysfunctional marriages or inordinately abusive marital relations.”

A similar bill was passed on third reading in March 2018 by the House in the 17thCongress (2016-2019), or during the time of former speaker Alvarez, but this was not acted upon by the Senate due to time constraints.