Legalizing Divorce in the Philippines Essay

Hiraya Divorce Support strengthens the legalization of divorce in the Philippines. The purpose of this group is to help people who suffer from a miserable relationship. Where we advocate divorce to help them get out of those relationships and start a new life. Our group will focus on the movement for divorce legalization. Many suffer from failed marriages that can't cut bonds with. We aim to encourage and persuade Filipinos to support the legalization of divorce in our country, and to understand the benefits of divorce when it is legalized in the Philippines. Marriage is indeed intended to last forever, and vows are meant to be fulfilled. Marriage is a sacred union between individuals, so it must be valued and embraced with love. But what if the affection that was once shared by a couple fades away? What if, as time goes on, love becomes fragile and uncertain? We are also vulnerable to change within our fast-changing society. A change in our body, mindset, attitude, and also in our relationships. Supposing that all, the serenity, ends and an individual begins to live a life full of misery? All of a sudden it turned the beauty into a living nightmare, will you be satisfied anyway? Are we going to be naive about the abuse, unfaithfulness, desertion, and lies? Divorce will be one of the ways to settle these issues. The termination of the marriage of a couple. This paper shows our stand-in Divorce Bill in the Philippines, and why it should be implemented.

Under Articles 55 to 67 of Title II in the Family Code of the Philippines. There are some ways of terminating a marital relationship wherein rights and duties would be dissolved with the help of Legal Separation. Spouses are entitled to live separately from each other, and they also cannot be remarried to someone. Many people believed that a husband and wife only had the opportunity to part ways of married life through death. But nowadays, these spouses may also file for legal separation, which will allow them to separate their properties and live separated from their partners. The problem was it does not legally end a marital relationship and thus does not even permit remarriage. But with the Muslim religion, they can freely file for divorce anytime under their law, which is the Code of Muslim Personal Laws. Another option is the annulment, which in the Philippines is a long and expensive court procedure. Once it ends a marriage, is different from divorce in many important ways. Under the law, reasons can include one or both parties who have been below the age of 18 when they got married, either a spouse having a serious sexually transmitted disease cases of polygamy, or mistaken identity. A husband or wife may also file for legal separation from his or her partner who has been sentenced to imprisonment for more than 6 years. Also, if the complainant makes a statement that his/her partner threatens to kill him/her or is involved in drug obsession, excessive alcoholism, homosexuality, human trafficking, and sexual infidelity.

The process of annulment, legal separation, and declaration of nullity is allowed in the Philippines but why not divorce? Beyond everything, they are all just the same - they aim for separation. With the broken system in which they are, one will never go wrong, and it would be immensely advantageous for the oppressed to restore their freedom and rights. The current options in the Family Code, which is an annulment and legal separation are not enough, they do not give complete relief to qualified parties. It is also painful to go through annulment and under the law, you have to accuse someone, you have to say you're incapacitated, you're saying that the marriage never existed, which is not true. Besides, only the rich and influential are included in the process of annulment and legal separation. It is expensive and it will take decades to overcome it, those who cannot afford to obtain one will be left with no choice other than imprisoned in the condition in which they are. There are drastic financial disparities between annulment and divorce. But it will benefit even the less fortunate to file a separation from a partner who may be having a marital failure, with the legalization of divorce, and refuses to seek help. Thus, if the law is passed, divorce will be cheaper than annulment will provide a quick solution to a marital failure, and will support Filipinos anywhere they are.

Throughout the world, the Philippines and Vatican City are the only states that are still against the legalization of divorce though it allows an annulment of marriages. The Vatican is an independent state led by a pope, who also leads the Catholic Church. The Philippines, meanwhile, is a significant majority Catholic country. Almost 90% of the population in the Philippines is Catholic, and the beliefs of the Catholic churches strongly affect the movement for divorce to be legal. According to Jayeel Cornelio, a sociologist from Manila's Ateneo University. The resistance of the catholic churches to the movement for divorce to be legal is not supported by the public but only themselves. The reason is that the Philippines is assumed to be pro-family to protect the family and strengthen the family and divorce will only disrupt the image of the Philippines where family bonds are prioritized, by Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila. As a result, movements for a divorce bill to become law are still not progressing due to the power of catholic churches and their religious beliefs saying that divorce is not needed in the country. Some other countries allow their residents to divorce under some conditions, even though those conditions may not be similar in the United States where divorce is legal and liberated. However, many countries place restrictions on who can terminate their marriages and under what circumstances. Divorce also has been sacred in many Middle Eastern countries. In Turkey and Iran, spouses must do counseling first to fix their issues before they can even think about divorce. In other words, divorce is legal in their country, but it takes time to achieve it. In the Philippines, Most Filipino marriages mostly exist on paper or as a formality that resulted from a lack of divorce laws. Statistics from the Philippines Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) show that there were more than 10,000 petitions filed to end marriages in 2013, out of a population of roughly 100 million, with women filing slightly more than half of the petitions. The most recent statistics OSG provided, based on a sample of such cases from 2010 to 2011, showed that 6 percent of these petitions were dismissed or denied.

The Philippines has a never-ending debate if its implementation would enhance the country's status in terms of marital separation. We are a secular state, where no religious group has the right to define law or policy for the entire population. People who say that divorce is not advisable for the Philippines to forget or ignore our history (Ursua, 2013). From 1917 until August 30, 1950, when the 1950 Civil Code took effect, we had a divorce law. The latter law banned Filipinos from divorcing, and under the new Family Code, the prohibition remains. However, divorce has always been practiced by Muslim Filipinos, as permitted by Philippine law. Today, under the Code of Muslim Personal Law of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 1083), promulgated in 1977, divorce remains open to Muslim Filipinos. Moreover, not every marriage was accompanied by 'God' even though it took place in a church. This may seem to be a rationalization. Let us not forget that Spain is Christianity's roof, but divorce has been instituted and they are benefiting from it now. Each day, regardless of what the law says, there are Filipinos who get married, bear children, separate, and get into other relationships. The enactment of divorce, which plays a significant role in legally and emotionally liberating people to form a more secure relationship, is a major break for us.

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In the Philippines, more than half of Filipinos are in favor of divorce being legal in the country, but divorce is not seen as an issue by the president, thus the legalization of divorce is showing no progress at all. The president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte is against divorce. He opposed the Divorce Bill because it would be unfair and hurt the abandoned spouses and children. According to him, the children will be affected and if it were to happen, the mistreated spouses after the divorce would lose their right to file cases against their spouses. But the public clearly shows in surveys that most Filipino citizens are in favor of the law to be legalized, while the House of representatives approves of this law. Therefore, it appears that divorce isn’t an issue in regards to the president and catholic churches, but the citizens highly want this law to be implemented. The lack of support by the president clearly states that divorce isn’t coming sooner or later. That being said most citizens who suffer from their current spouses will be forced to cope with the situation at hand. The negative effect that will happen is, that without divorce, many Filipinos will suffer in their miserable relationship. Divorce law will offer a solution that is not provided in Article 36 of the family code. It terminates a marriage depending on the ground that happened during the marriage, which makes the partnership no longer tangible. The law should give the citizen the right to exercise themselves in compliance with their values. This is the chance for them to start again. If the country seeks progress, the Filipinos should face the challenges of marriage, and the divorce law should be passed now.

The divorce bill can help women and children who are abused and trapped in a relationship will be able to get out of a miserable relationship. And it will be a chance to rebuild family and know the true relationship. One of the major reasons why divorce should be implemented is because of the increased incidence of battered wives, where intimate partner violence is the most common violence against women in our country. The violence can be verbal, psychological, and physical. Women, nowadays, lack confidence and they feel that there are no laws to protect them. Because of the absence of a law that would allow them to part ways legally and reasonably, couples stay together. Women are the ones who suffer more. Rather than living together under one roof and sinning by their abuse that will harm and traumatize the innocent children, it would be better for a couple to part ways. This will have a positive impact on the abandoned spouse and the children can start a new life. Divorce will give support to battered women and their children. It will not destroy the family's foundation but rather give couples hope to restore their lives and have a better relationship. The way to make their children fight the challenge that they had, their parent should give them endless love and determination. This will help them to grow and know that they are still loved.

To summarize this group’s claims, divorce is the solution to the cries of Filipinos who can no longer save their marriage. It is unfair to ignore the voices of those who are hurting and to turn a blind eye to their suffering. To these souls, not legalizing divorce is complete oppression. Empathy is needed because they are not lucky enough to experience fulfillment in their marital relationships. If the law is implemented, many will benefit from it. If you choose to become one with us and support our goal, many will be able to get out of unhealthy marriages. Looking at it logically, we are being compared to the rest of the world. While other countries can divorce and remarry, in the Philippines we are still blinded by our beliefs. We, therefore, conclude that divorce should be legalized in the Philippines because divorce is a choice, and we all should have the freedom to make choices. Divorce grants people a new beginning to lead happier lives. Living in a marriage where love, respect, and compatibility are gone is a life without hope.

Hiraya Divorce Support is a group of four researchers from Lyceum of the Philippines University - Cavite which seeks to implement divorce in the Philippines. The group's name Hiraya, originated from the popular phrase which means 'may the wishes of your heart be granted'. As the phrase states, we aim to provide an opportunity to connect with families and help them through the most challenging times of their lives. This group is dedicated to supporting the legalization of divorce in the Philippines.

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