Zamboanga church leaders surprised by divorce bill

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Leaders of the Catholic Church here said they were caught by surprise by the filing of the divorce bill in Congress.

“We were caught off guard by the divorce bill. We were so preoccupied with our campaign against the RH Bill on the diocesan and on the parish level that we didn’t see it coming,” Msgr.David Alonso, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, said Thursday.

Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad said he had not expected that lawmakers would propose the divorce bill.

Alonso described the bill’s proponents as “homebreakers.”

He said the Catholic Church would vigorously oppose it as it would result in “more broken families and more delinquent children.”

“Those who filed the divorce bill might not be happy with their own families and we will not be surprised if they will push next for the legalization of abortion,” he said.

Jumoad said he was saddened by the new development.

“I am really sad for those who sponsored this bill. This will be the beginning of the destruction of the families of the Filipino people,” he said.

Jumoad said he foresaw more suffering for children because of shattered relationships as it would then be easy for couples to discard each other.

“We have annulment and legal separation in place, where the Church gives options to unhappy couples and still preserve the family,” he said.

“What God has blessed in a union can never be divided for reasons that they are no longer happy with each other. You started loving a person and suddenly you want to be separated from that person for a mere reason that you don’t love him or her anymore? That is unacceptable,” Ayala Parish priest Father Amado Vano said.

For Muslims though, divorce is permitted and is enshrined in Shariah laws and Presidential Decree 1083 or the Code of Muslim Personal Laws, according to former Office of Muslim Affairs executive director Zamzamin Ampatuan.

“But it is the last recourse to resolve a failing marriage,” he said.

Ampatuan said there were a lot of things to consider before a divorce petition could be granted, and among them would be the unstable relationship between a couple.

“But divorce does not come easy in Islam. Couples have to undergo a three-month trial period first, during which, they will try to mend their relations. If that still fails, then the divorce petition will be resolved,” Ampatuan said.

He said it was not surprising for the Catholic Church to oppose the divorce bill because its teachings prohibited the separation of married couples.