Advocacy groups continue to lobby for the divorce bill even as the 19th Congress adjourns this Saturday, February 8. Some have cited the need to leave abusive relationships with their spouses; others cite the need for affordable, accessible, and legal ways to end their marriages. Annulments remain costly and can take years to process, while legal separations are not enough to ensure the security of the parties and their children.
Senator Risa Hontiveros, the principal author of a bill proposing the “Dissolution of Marriage Act,” called the lack of a divorce law a “moral failing” in a privilege speech in August 2024. “It is a failure to protect our citizens, particularly women and children, who are often the most vulnerable in dysfunctional marriages. It is a failure to provide an avenue for healing, for the restoration of dignity, and for the pursuit of true happiness.”
Other members of the Senate are reluctant to pursue divorce legislation in the Philippines — the only country in the world, besides the Vatican, without divorce legislation. Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said in June 2024 that he was not in favor of passing the divorce bill because he is a “devout Catholic,” while saying annulment should be made more affordable for the poor instead.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) released a statement the following month which stated that marital crises can strengthen a marriage through time, and that a divorce law would be unconstitutional.
“Could there be any other nation in the world that declares in its Constitution that the family is the foundation of the nation, and that ‘marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State?’” the statement says.
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