House transmits divorce bill to Senate

MANILA, Philippines — There will no longer be a recount of the votes for the controversial divorce bill in the House of Representatives as the approved measure has been transmitted to the Senate.

House Bill 9349 or the Absolute Divorce bill was transmitted to the Senate upon the request of Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the main proponent of the measure, in a letter to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco dated May 29.

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

In a letter to Senate President Francis Escudero dated June 10, Velasco requested the concurrence of the upper chamber with HB 9349 entitled “An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage.”

Earlier, Velasco said he would not yet transmit the bill to the Senate as some lawmakers questioned the results of the voting.

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, CIBAC party-list Rep. Eddie Villanueva and Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez said the bill did not get the required votes.

They questioned the changes in the voting tally, which was originally declared as 126 affirmative votes, 109 negative votes and 20 abstentions. But a memorandum reflected 131 affirmative votes.

Lagman, however, said the complaints were not formalized.

“Nobody formally questioned the results of the voting, as I mentioned in my letter to Secretary General Velasco dated May 29,” Lagman said.

The bill stipulates the grounds for the dissolution of marriage, which include irreconcilable differences, psychological incapacity, domestic or marital abuse, when one of the spouses went through sex reassignment surgery and separation of spouses for at least five years.

Divorce was allowed in the country during the American colonial period by virtue of a law, but this was repealed in 1943 during the Japanese period.

In 1950, the Civil Code was enacted allowing only legal separation in the Philippines.