Lacson: We have divorce in the Philippines

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Senator Panfilo Lacson  said he would rather  keep mum in the meantime on the proposed divorce  law than face the wrath of  his wife.

“Ako hindi pa ako ready to decide kasi baka bugbugin ako ng asawa ko… so quiet na  muna. Let’s wait for  the  deliberations,”  Lacson, former head of the  Philippine National Police (PNP), said  in jest during the Kapihan sa Senado on Thursday.

The senator was reacting to a bill  being  pushed  by the Gabriela partylist in the House of Representatives seeking to legalize divorce in the country.

“Well, effectively we have divorce,  yung annulment,” Lacson said of the bill.

He explained, “Ni-relax na rin yung mga requirements for an annulment kaya lang it takes a longer time than  divorce. Itong features ng divorce bill  na pinapasa ng partylist group  sa House parang isa na lang dun sa isang requirement, pwede  ng ma-fulfill, pwede ng mag divorce.”

Under the Gabriela proposal,  a couple may enter into a divorce if at least one of five conditions  enumerated in the measure was met.

READ: Gabriela refiles divorce bill

Lacson though  acknowledged that while  the requirements for annulment  were more  relaxed,  getting  a divorce  would be faster and  less expensive.

“Sa annulment, sometimes it takes so many years, umaabot pa sa Court of Appeals. Kung hahabulin pa ng (Solicitor General) lalong hahaba at saka magastos. But yung effects halos pareho na rin because pagka may annulment pwede nang mag-remarry,”  he said./rga