Philippine Issue on Divorce

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Divorce has been adopted world wide. And this bill is filed in the House almost every new administration. However, since 2001 this bill has never been approved and still one of the most hotted debates in the House of Representatives.

There are mainly two sides, the liberals (pro divorce) like Gabriela (organization who looks after the rights of the women) and the conservatives (anti-divorce) which consisted mainly by the religious sector.

Divorce Rate in The World

The pro divorce always shout for the right of the women and each one to be happy from a wrong marriage. They say that divorce should be given to the unhappy marriages, infidelity, abandonement, and some issues which will make it more easier to cut off the relationship of the spouses legally.

On the other hand, the religious sector shouts for adherence to the word of God where God was never happy with divorce. Biblically speaking, Jesus himself showed that God was never happy in the law of divorce of men. And such was only permitted by God because of the hard headedness of men.

Furthermore, Jesus made it clear that whoever divorces his spouse and remarry while his spouse is still alive, committed adultery in the eyes of God. In addition, Jesus made an emphasis that it is only in the case of infedility that God permitted divorce and nothing more. (Matthew 5:32, 19:6-9, Malachi 2:16)

Please notice the huge differences between the two main groups. The first one focuses mainly on the welfare of men (self centered) while one focuses on what is moral or God-centered reasons which is more applicable for the welfare of men.

Current Status and Relative Laws of Divorce

The Philippines doesn't have a divorce law yet. What we have is only legal separation and annulment. Legal separation is a law about the separation of the spouses as they were protected by the law. All their conjugal properties will be divided so as their custody of the children. The downside of this law is that non of the spouses can remarry legally as long as their spouse is still alive.

Annulment on the other hand is the law that declares that the marriage conducted was null and void. This means that the law will consider the marriage contract of the spouses to be invalid even at the beginning of their union. With this, it allow the spouses to remarry legally. The downside however is, applying for this is literally very expensive, and only those who can afford to pay is able to apply.

Another downside is that it has a stricter provisions compared to divorce. That is why not all annulment cases has been approved. Eg. Brix Ferrariz and Amy Perez. 

On the moral issue side, for me, I would rather keep the conservative stand of the church on this matter. Divorce is primarily a modern western influence were Filipinos are not bound to copy it. Furthermore, it is against to what God is telling us in the Bible. Coming from the religious sector, I am anti-divorce.

I believe that our current law has already provided good and stable laws (legal separation and annulment) in maintaining not only our culture and tradition, but also our moral values as Filipinos.

Aside from that, marrying someone should be our own personal responsibilities. The problem with divorce is that it only promotes promiscuity (in the long run), unplanned marriage, moral degradation, and easy avenues for other moral issues such as adultery and abortion.

Marriage is not something that you can just throw away if you don't like it anymore. It is something to be treasured rather than to be used mainly for pleasures.

To strengthen your marriages, I highly suggest that you also read How To Resolve Marital Problems.

If you want to know more about the bill's provision, kindly read the Proposed Divorce Bill.

What's the Opinion of The Masses?

In line with this hot issue, what is your stand on divorce? Let the nation hear your voice on this issue.