Still hoping for a divorce law

By Herbert Vego

IS there a chance for a divorce law to pass despite strong objection from the Roman Catholic Church?

“Yes,” according to Rep. Edcel Lagman (1^st Dist., Albay), principal author of the Absolute Divorce Act, which was approved by the House of Representatives on May 22, 2024 and is now awaiting Senate deliberation.

“I am optimistic that before the end of the sitting parliament in 2025,” Lagman told a TV host, “we will join the community of nations with a divorce law.”

He said that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had expressed favorable statements on “cases where divorce is necessary”.

Lagman, who had also authored a failed divorce bill in 2018, is more optimistic of Senate approval, stressing that divorce would not break marriage; it would merely confirm an already “broken marriage.”

Efforts to legalize divorce in our country, where 78 per cent of the population are Roman Catholic, have snagged because of opposition from politicians who fear losing the votes of rabid Catholics.

But why are Muslims allowed to divorce?

Going back to 1977 when the country was still under martial law, the late Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Sr. issued a presidential decree legalizing divorce for Muslims.

The only avenue for non-Muslim couples to end an unhappy relationship is through an annulment. But this means proving that a marriage was never legally valid in the first place, such as marrying a minor without parental consent, or marriage that was not officiated by a government-authorized person.

An example of an annulled marriage is that of former Rodrigo Duterte to Elizabeth Zimmerman in 2000 due to “philandering”. Hmm, this is for Maritess to explain further.

Divorced or not, unhappy couples could still “happily separate”. But how about those who want to remarry?

Christians who believe in divorce due to unfaithfulness cite the Bible verse Matthew 5:32: “A man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.”

The Philippines and the Vatican (a city-state within Italy) are the only nations today that still prohibit divorce.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) – an organization of 10 non-Roman Catholic Christian sects — favors divorce “as last resort if everything else fails and the dissolution of the marriage ties appears to the couple as the only possible way of redeeming themselves and their children.”

There are Catholic priests who advocate divorce. One of them, Cebu-based Fr. Antonio Maria Rosales, now 85, is vocal against preserving an unhappy marriage: “Is such a marriage not a ‘death sentence’ to the couple and their children?”

Without legal remedy, estranged couples are forced to either “live in” with another partner or indulge in short-time affairs.

Lord, patawad!

-oOo-

MORE PROGRESS FOR ILOILO CITY

MORE Power spokesman Jonathan Cabrera was among our media colleagues who witnessed the arrival of large mobile harbor cranes at the Visayas Container Terminal in Iloilo City last Wednesday (Oct. 9).

He told us that these cranes, owned by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI), will make it possible for container vans of international cargo ships to be loaded and unloaded within a few minutes, boosting our city as a competitive and efficient trade gateway for Western Visayas.

“These cranes will allow us to deliver an immense improvement in service to our clients,” ICTSI executive vice president Christian Gonzales said in his speech during the inaugural ceremony at the Iloilo Commercial Port Complex.

Each mobile crane has a reach of 46 meters with a lifting capacity of 100 tons, boosting the Visayas Container Terminal’s capacity to handle the increasing volume of containerized, bulk, general, and cargo projects in the region.

The International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), chaired by billionaire Enrique K. Razon who is also chairman of MORE Power, has received regulatory approvals to operate and develop the Visayas Container Terminal (VCT) at the international seaport of Iloilo City on a 25-year concession.