WHILE THE debate on the divorce bill rages in Congress, Catholic marriages in the country are on track for a record drop this year and the next, a Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) official said Saturday.

Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, said that based on the Catholic Directory, the number of church marriages is set to drop from 177,940 in 2008-2009 to just 166,0000 this year and in 2011.

Castro said this was because Filipinos were marrying at a later age and couples were opting for civil marriages first before going for a ?grand? church wedding.

?(The) trend is Filipinos are getting married at an older age unlike before when Filipinos would tie the knot when they?re still young,? said Castro in an interview over the Church?s Radio Veritas.

?Because those getting married are getting older, the number of people tying the knot in church is going down.?

He said that in the diocese of Tarlac, the number of those opting for civil marriages was ?on the rise because it is free when you have it before the mayor.? They later get married in church.

?It?s not because of the church fees but because as Filipinos they want to prepare for a church wedding. Filipinos are very particular that they have a grand church wedding so they postpone it,? Castro said.

He said the Church had also noticed a ?glaring phenomenon? of more and more Filipino women marrying foreigners.

?We have a glaring phenomenon of so many interracial marriages involving Filipinas. Maybe foreigners are really falling in love with Filipinas. So it?s interracial and, more often than not, (it?s) a mixed marriage with the man having a different religion,? Castro said.

?In several instances, the groom would convert and get baptized in the Church but that is discouraged?to convert just for the sake of marriage,? he said.

Castro said Filipino women entering into interracial marriages was a ?phenomenon? happening not just in the country but also in the large Filipino communities abroad.

?You will also notice this abroad where there are really many Filipinos getting married, either with a fellow Filipino or with somebody from another race,? he said.

Castro noted that marriages between Catholic Filipinos and non-Catholics increased from 8,900 in 2008-2009 to 10,200 this year.

?We allow (marriages) even if they?re not both Catholic. But under (Church) law, there should be a decree or dispensation from the bishop allowing it,? Castro said.

?Unlike forced conversions in other sects, we allow it and we should respect marriage. However, there is a written document signed by the couple that the non-Catholic should respect his wife or her husband?s being Catholic,? he said.