A bill seeking to legalize divorce in the country has been re-filed in the 19th Congress.
In House Bill (HB) 78, Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman, the principal author of previous bills legislating absolute divorce, underscored that there are only two sovereign states in the world where divorce is illegal—the Philippines and the Vatican City.
“The Philippines is the only country, aside from the Vatican, which remains to outlaw absolute divorce even as the Catholic hierarchy grants canonical dissolution of marriage,” he said.
According to Lagman, all other Catholic countries recognize absolute divorce in varying degrees of liberality.
But Lagman said he is finally hopeful that “beleaguered and tormented wives can soon be liberated from irretrievably dysfunctional marriages or inordinately abusive marital relations.”
“Not being able to get out of a loveless, unhappy, even abusive, marriage is a human rights concern for women. The right of women to live free of physical, emotional, and psychological violence is a human right. The right of women not to live in fear is a human right. The right of women to remunerative work and economic independence is a human right. The right of women to autonomy in all aspects of their lives is human right,” the lawmaker added.