When it comes to the topic of divorce, Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero is personally more keen on developing annulment and making it both affordable and accessible.
"Ang personal stand ko ay ito: mas nais kong palawakin at affordable at accessible yung annulment na nasa family code natin ngayon (My personal stand is this: I'm more inclined to broaden annulment and making it affordable and accessible which is already in our family code now)," he said.
The newly installed Senate leader mentioned this during a press conference on Thursday, May 23 following the House of Representatives' approval on third and final reading of the bill that seeks to legalize divorce in the Philippines.
According to Escudero, improving the annulment process can be done in several ways, primarily by allowing lawyers from the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) to accept such cases.
He added that the Supreme Court (SC) has declared that a psychologist is no longer needed to prove psychological incapacity.
Lastly, is for Congress to clearly define what can be considered as psychological incapacity.
Escudero said it would still depend since he has yet to read the House's version of the divorce bill and that divorce has a "wide spectrum of definitions".
Garnering 126 affirmative votes during the plenary session on Wednesday afternoon, May 22 was House Bill (HB) No.9349, titled, "An Act reinstituting absolute divorce as an alternative mode for the dissolution of marriage".
Entering negative votes were 109 House members--a relatively large opposition, but not enough to deny their pro-divorce colleagues. Another 20 solons abstained from the voting.
Wednesday was the final day of the second regular session of the 19th Congress. The measure was approved on second reading a week earlier.
Asked regarding the bill's chances in the Senate, Escudero said that he considers divorce a conscience personal vote.
"Walang party, walang majority, walang minority stand dito. Personal na desisyon base sa kani-kanilang paniniwala at relihiyon ang mangyayari diyan kada senador. At bilang tagapangulo ng Senado, wala akong balak dumiin pabor o kontra dito (There's no party, majority nor minory stand here. Every senator there will have their personal decision based on their belief and religion. As the Senate's leader, I have no intention to go for or against it)," he added.