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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Oppositors confident 'unconstitutional' divorce bill will not get Lower House nod

Oppositors confident 'unconstitutional' divorce bill will not get Lower House nod

Published Aug 19, 2021 05:11 pm

A senior House of Representatives officials sees no chance for the divorce bill to win approval in the House of Representatives even if the process of passage is fasttracked by the chamber.

Divorce wedding

“I don’t think the bill will pass - it is in direct contravension of the 1987 Constitution,” said Deputy Speaker and 1Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta.

Marcoleta, whose partylist organization enjoys strong backing from the highly-influential religious sect Iglesia ni Cristo, predicted that strong opposition will be registered on the plenary once the bill is opened for deliberation.

Earlier, Deputy Speakers Lito Atienza (BUHAY Partylist) and Bro. Eddie Villanueva (CIBAC Partylist) decried the bill’s approval on Tuesday by the Committee on Population and Family Relations. Atienza and Villanueva represent partylist organizations backed by Catholic El Shaddai Charismatic Ministry and the Jesus Is Lord Ministry, respectively.

Both House officials agree that the divorce measure contradicts constitutional provisions on the protection of the family.

“It was Cong Edcel's handiwork at the committee level. I think he will have a hard time defending it on the floor,” said Marcoleta in a text message to Manila Bulletin, referring to Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Lagman is a principal author of the bill that legalizes absolute divorce as an option for couples experiencing troubled marriages.

Other authors of the three bills that were consolidated by the family relations panel are former Speaker and Davao del Norte Pantaleon Alvarez and the six members of the Makabayan bloc.

In a press statement on Thursday, August 19, Lagman defended the bill against criticisms of being unconstitutional.

“An absolute divorce law is constitutional despite the prescriptions by the Constitution on the sanctity of marriage and its being the foundation of the family,” said Lagman.

“In legalizing absolute divorce, the State does not destroy the institution of marriage because a judicial decree granting divorce is after the fact of a marriage which has been irretrievably put asunder by human frailty and mortal imperfections,” he explained.

The veteran independent lawmaker noted that the Philippines has remained the only country in the world that has not legalized absolute divorce.

“The Vatican has an average annual population of only 800 persons, and resident women who get married are not allowed to continue residing in the Vatican which has no maternity clinic,” Lagman stated.

He stressed: .”Absolute divorce is not for all married couples like in the Philippines where the overwhelming majority of spouses are in happy and harmonious unions.”

Related Tags

Rep. Edcel Lagman Deputy Speaker Bro. Eddie Villanueva Iglesia Ni Cristo Deputy Speaker Lito Atienza El Shaddai Jesus Is Lord Roman Catholic church Rep. Rodante Marcoleta Divorce
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