Bishop vows hard fight vs divorce bill in Congress

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma

MANILA, Philippines—The president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines on Wednesday said the divorce bill will struggle if pushed in the next Congress.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said that just like the divisive reproductive health (RH) law, which took so many years to be passed, the other bills of the same nature, such as the divorce bill, will not come easy.

“I think the Philippines is not that excited in following the example of other countries. We still believe that with continued prayerful evaluation and study, [the country] will not come to that,” Palma told reporters in an interview.

Earlier, Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan, coauthor of House Bill No. 1799, or an Act of Legalizing Divorce in the Philippines, said she was poised to refile the measure with a “few enhancements” in the 16th Congress.

But Speaker Feliciano Belmonte said the divorce bill was bound to be a divisive measure and won’t be prioritized in the next Congress.

The Catholic Church has stubbornly opposed the passage of the RH law, which it said undermined the value for family and life. It is also against the other so-called “death” bills proposing to legalize divorce, same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia.

Palma said the Philippines, so far, was not keen on following the footsteps of other countries that have already legalized these measures.

“As of now, we feel that a lot of our people also have a different view with it comes to such laws,” the prelate added.