SAGIP Party-List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (Dexter Barro II/MANILA BULLETIN)

SAGIP Party-List Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, a staunch critic of divorce proposals, says he is planning to speak with House Speaker Martin Romualdez and ask for another vote on the absolute divorce bill following concerns with the final vote count.

Marcoleta gave this statement during the “Kapihan sa Manila Prince Hotel” news forum on Wednesday, June 5, wherein questions on the validity of the votes were raised. 

“Iniisip ko po na repasuhin namin muli, kung papayag po yung aming Speaker. Kahit ako na po yung makipag-usap sa kanya na pwede bang kahit isahan na lang, para sa gano’n mawala yung duda,” the lawmaker said, referring to another plenary deliberation on the bill.

(I am thinking that we should review it again if our Speaker agrees. I'm willing to be the one to talk with him, to ask if it’s possible to do it one more time, in order to erase all doubts.)

“Palagay ko naman mapapaki-usapan dahil sa kahalagahan ng measure na ‘to, baka pumayag naman po si Speaker na kahit isang deliberation na lang para walang sisihan,” he continued.

(I think that due to the importance of this measure, the Speaker could agree to at least one more deliberation so that there is no one to blame.)

House Bill (HB) No. 9349, which embodies the absolute divorce bill, was approved on third and final reading on May 22.

The bill received 126 affirmative votes, 109 negative votes, and 20 abstentions. 

However, the following morning, it was announced that the number of House members who voted yes were actually 131.

Marcoleta said this is a strong reason to conduct another vote on the measure because it would appear that the House was merely “chasing to reach” the majority vote.

Marcoleta also found the number of abstentions “very unusual” because based on his experience in the legislative, the number of abstentions would only go as far as three and not 20.

Furthermore, he pointed out that with 306 members of the House of Representatives, the final vote tally would suggest that there were more than 40 members who did not participate. 

Another round of voting would give another opportunity for the congressmen who originally failed to take part in the nominal voting for HB No.9349.

“Lalo-lalong na po ang bumoto ng 'yes', doon ang pinaka-importante na maaaring nabigla o may hindi po ganap na naunawaan kung paano nag-yes. Kung minsan po kasi, pag nagbobotohan, nag-uusap-uusap sila. Baka akala niya yung yes is 'no'. So lilinawin lang po natin,” the solon added.

(Especially those who voted 'yes', that is the most important thing that they may have been surprised or someone did not fully understand how they voted yes. Because sometimes, when voting, they talk to each other. Maybe the solon thought that yes is 'no'. So let's just clarify.)

“Hindi naman siguro kalabisan kung mamuhunan po tayo ng konting  panahon na lang, ang pinag-uusapan naman natin ay isa pong bagay na hindi natin mapasusubalian na napakahalaga. Hindi lamang sa isang pamilya kundi sa buong bansa na rin po. Sapagkat nakasalig po rito yng kapalaran ng ating lipunan,” he stressed.

(It's not too much to ask if we invest a little time, what we're talking about is one thing that we can't deny is very important. Not only for a family but for the whole country. Because the fate of our society depends on it.)

If this proposal goes through, and the absolute divorce will ultimately be enacted, Marcoleta says the bill will still encounter issues on its constitutionality at the Supreme Court (SC)

“At kung ang bilang ay talagang may laban, totoo naman po na kahit na ito ay maipasa, mayroon pa naman pong last resort,” he noted.

(And if the number of votes remain in favor, it is true that even if it is passed, there is still a last resort.)