Breaking Up Must Be Hard To Do?

A study titled Divorce and Separation in the Philippines: Trends and Correlates by Jeofrey Abalos, a candidate for doctor of philosophy at the Australian National University’s School of Demography, published on May 9, 2019 showed that the number of annulment and nullity cases filed before the Office of the Solicitor-General increased from 4,520 in 2001 to 11,135 in 2014.

Based on the study, the majority of these cases were filed by wives (61 percent), of whom 91 percent were 30 years old or younger. A large majority (80 percent) of husbands who initiated cases were also 30 years old or younger. About four in 10 of those who filed cases had been married for five years or less.

The study also revealed that in 1960, there were 28,988 Filipino men and 52,187 Filipino women who were divorced or separated. By 2010 these numbers had increased more than tenfold to 330,253 men and 565,802 women.

The proportion of Filipino women legally married declined from 48.9 percent in 1990 to 45.7 percent in 2010, while over the same period the proportion in consensual unions increased from 0.2 percent to 5.5 percent, the study further showed.

Economic reasons tend to partly explain the increasing proportion of Filipinos who cohabit, but the absence of divorce in the country may also have contributed to this trend, according to the study.

Let’s debate on it

Proponents of divorce in the Philippines argue that it is time to talk about the issue since only the country and the Vatican do not have a law that allows it.

But Sen. Panfilo Lacson declared yesterday he may support the proposal if it limits people to availing themselves of divorce only once.

“Divorce bill: I will propose as an amendment – ‘once in a lifetime’ divorce. You err once, make amends; you err twice, you deserve to suffer,” Lacson posted on his Twitter account.

He later explained that he raised the proposal to elicit reactions to possibly improve it.

“Let’s put it this way: once in a lifetime, and the one who filed for divorce cannot remarry, and the one who did not still can. Let’s see. The former will think a million times before he or she (files for divorce),” Lacson told reporters.

He said he thought of the amendment so that marriages would not be whimsical, like those in Las Vegas where “there are drive-thru weddings, and drive-thru divorce.”

“We also don’t want to cheapen the importance of marriage,” the senator said.

Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa agreed with Lacson, saying one can make a mistake in marriage the first time, but filing for divorce following a second or even a third marriage indicates there is something wrong with the person seeking the legal recourse.

Lacson said divorce could be very traumatic to the spouse and children.

He said he prefers a bill on “dissolution of marriage,” which would ease the conditions as well as expenses for annulment or legal separation.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III told reporters on Monday that based on his informal consultations, many senators would support such a measure that would simply relax requirements for the annulment of marriage.

“The consensus at this point is, there is a problem on the word ‘divorce’. It appears that it’s easier to discuss this if we talk about dissolution of marriage. In other words, it is an upgraded annulment law,” Sotto told reporters on Monday. “At this point that’s the possibility. I’m not discounting anything yet.”

Interview of Sen. Risa Hontiveros at the Senate on Monday, Aug. 5, 2019 about divorce. Video by Ernie Penaredondo, The Philippine STAR.

https://twitter.com/risahontiveros/status/1158382485211738113?s=19

Senators Pia Cayetano and Risa Hontiveros separately filed bills allowing for absolute divorce in the country.

Hontiveros cited a 2017 survey by Social Weather Stations Inc., which showed 53 percent of Filipinos favoring the legalization of divorce. Meanwhile, a 2018 Philippine Statistics Authority report found that one in four women experience spousal violence. Unhealthy marriages bring trauma that is passed on for generations through children, Hontiveros said.

She expressed optimism that the divorce bill would have better prospects of approval in the current Senate, based on her initial poll of her colleagues.

Various groups are also lobbying for the approval of the divorce bill, citing the need to give people who have suffered abuses and other marital problems a second chance at happiness.

https://twitter.com/risahontiveros/status/1158584115869802498?s=19

Related story: Will you write to our lawmakers to approve divorce?