House of Representatives Approves Divorce Bill & Transmits To The Senate
DIVORCE BILL – The House of Representatives approves the House Bill 9349 or Absolute Divorce Act and transmits to the Senate
House Secretary General Reginal Velasco reported on May 23 that 131 lawmakers voted in favor of House Bill No. 9349, while 109 opposed it and 20 abstained.
During the second regular session of the House of Representatives on May 22, Leyte Representative and actor Richard Gomez stated, “I voted no for the Divorce Bill because I believe in the sanctity of marriage,” following the final reading approval of the bill.
Richard Gomez emphasized that laws should reflect the values of most Filipinos, noting that the Philippines is predominantly a Catholic nation. He added, “Conversely, I believe that our laws must also provide for laws that abide by the religious customs of the majority of the Filipino people. Our civil code, in its present form, simply provides for those whose religious customs sanctify marriage.”
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Based on a report from Inquirer, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman, the bill’s principal author, announced that three weeks after its contentious third reading passage, the bill was transmitted to the Senate on June 10. On Wednesday, Lagman shared with reporters a letter from House Secretary General Reginald Velasco to Senate President Francis Escudero, seeking 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.
According to the report, if enacted, the bill would “reinstate” divorce in the country, offering spouses a “fourth mode” to dissolve “irreparably broken or dysfunctional marriages” based on limited grounds. The three other modes currently allowed under the Family Code are canonical dissolution, annulment, and legal separation.