Bishops launch antidivorce campaign

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called for a press conference yesterday, launching a new concerted campaign—this time against a divorce bill filed in Congress.

CBCP secretary general Msgr. Juanito Figura said the idea of entertaining a divorce bill at this point was “totally inconsistent with the initiatives under the controversial RH bill,” which the Catholic Church has also been busy countering.

“The RH bill as they say is a ‘remedy’ to the [country’s] growing population and on a practical point of view, if there is a divorce law, two people will be separated, two people will get married again and have new families.”

Figura furthered, “That adds to the population of the country, which is seen by many as a serious problem.”

Instead of entertaining the possibility of divorce in the country, legislators must focus more on helping strengthen the family and husband and wife relationships, he added.

“They should also study why there are many husbands and wives separating and we might just discover again that it’s a vicious cycle of poverty,” Figura told reporters. “This is what the government must address instead of coming up with band-aid remedies.”

In Zamboanga City, Monsignor David Alonso, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Zamboanga, said on Thursday the Catholic Church was “caught by surprise” at the filing of the divorce bill in Congress.

“We were caught off guard with the divorce bill,” he said.