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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Movies and TV devider Filipino divorce … via Guam

Filipino divorce … via Guam

Published Jan 18, 2026 03:06 pm
Divorce and annulment will always be hot topics of discussion here in the Philippines. For divorce, precisely because it doesn't exist here, and annulment, because it’s so hard to come by. The number of unhappy and/or lifeless marriages will ensure that this situation will persist.
A scene from Divorce Resort
A scene from Divorce Resort
UnMarry was the third-highest-grossing film at the recent Metro Manila Film Festival and tackled the issue of annulment through the eyes of two fictitious married individuals seeking annulment. As the screenplay was based on the producer/lawyer's trial experiences, the film was both entertaining and educational.
And now we hear the great news of how a documentary short with strong Filipino connections will have its world premiere at the prestigious South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas this coming March.
With a 15-minute running time, Divorce Resort follows Butch Meily as he pursues a legal loophole that exists for any Filipino seeking divorce. Separated from his wife for eight years, the couple has been living in a legal and emotional limbo. Then Butch hears of the “7 Day Residency Divorce” that the US territory of Guam is offering. One spouse spends a week in Guam, establishes residency, and acquires an internationally recognized divorce. So Butch’s lawyer books the hotel, and we have this documentary short!
The camera crew follows 72-year-old Butch on his one-week expedition to divorce; what he feels he will gain, and how it will change his life, at the stroke of a pen on a legal document. Of course, the one-week vacation also becomes a time for meditation and introspection - the realization that divorce is also a loss, a severing of something and someone that has been part of one’s life journey.
Produced by Marco Meily, Alana Saad, and Coby Becker, Divorce Resort is directed by Coby Becker, with Jesse Suchomel working the camera. I’m hoping it makes a splash at SXSW, and we get a chance to watch it soon.
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