Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito. (Photo from an INQUIRER.net video)
Some senators expressed uncertainties over the plan of House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to file a bill seeking an easy dissolution of marriages in the Philippines.
Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito pointed out that the country is “not yet ready to accept” Alvarez’s proposal that, if passed into law, would easily dissolve the marriage of a couple if both parties agree with it.
“The problem is that our country is still 80 to 90 percent Christian,” Ejercito said in an ambush interview on Wednesday. “We are not yet ready to accept yung ganyan, kasi (yung) belief natin on (the) sanctity of marriage and family. Maybe later on but probably at this time medyo mahihirapan pa,” he added.
In Alvarez’s proposal, couples will be allowed to jointly petition a court for the dissolution of their marriage without having to go through the tedious process of annulment.
Senator Bam Aquino INQUIRER.net / FILE PHOTO
For his part, Senator Bam Aquino said that rather than passing a divorce law, the government must make annulment “more accessible to the public.”
“Ako ang stand ko diyan, (me, my stance is that) we don’t necessarily need to pass a divorce law but we can make the elements of achieving an annulment cheaper and more accessible to the public,” Aquino said in a separate interview.
“Kasi ngayon ang lumalabas yung nag papa-annul yung mga mayayaman kasi kaya nila bayaran (Right now, it appears that those who file for annulment are the affluent because they have the capacity to pay). Because if you make it more equitable, that’s probably enough,” he added.
The senator also admitted that he is unaware of what exactly the contents of Alvarez’s proposal.
“I think I don’t know if anyone here has filed a divorce law. I don’t know if yung dissolution na sinasabi niya (that he is saying) is also a divorce law. I don’t know exactly what his proposal is,” Aquino said.
Both senators, however, pointed out that annulment is still a separation process for married couples.
Ejercito believes that the process of annulment is difficult in order to “preserve the sanctity of marriage.”
“Meron namang process, may (there is a process, we have) annulment. I think the intention of the law was to really make it hard because they wanted to preserve the sanctity of marriage,” the senator said.
“Meron namang ways. Kasi pag dumami na, mag-aasawa na lang ng mag-aasawa at mag-divorce (there are ways. Because if we increase the ways, many will just marry and then file for divorce and then remarry). I don’t think at this point our population as a whole is ready for divorce because of our predominantly Christian and Catholic population,” Ejercito added.
Aquino, on the other hand, believes that the expenses are a burden to married couples who wish to separate and that making the process of annulment easier should be prioritized.
“What I’m open to is making annulment easier and more accessible to public. Hindrance kasi yun costs, ang alam ko it’s not a priority here,” Aquino said. Airei Kim Guanga, INQUIRER.net trainee / JPV
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