Rep. Edcel Lagman —House of Representatives FB Photo
MANILA, Philippines — Three weeks after it passed the third reading in a contentious vote, the absolute divorce bill has finally been transmitted to the Senate as of June 10, its principal author Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said.
On Wednesday, Lagman showed reporters a copy of House secretary general Reginald Velasco’s letter to Senate President Francis Escudero requesting the Senate’s concurrence on House Bill No. 9349, titled “An Act Reinstituting Absolute Divorce as an Alternative Mode for the Dissolution of Marriage,” which passed on final reading on May 22.
READ: Forwarding of divorce bill to Senate on hold
If enacted, the bill would “reinstate” divorce in the country and offer spouses a “fourth mode” of dissolving “irreparably broken or dysfunctional marriages” based on limited grounds.
The three others allowed under the Family Code are canonical dissolution, annulment and legal separation. —Krixia Subingsubing