Bill seeks to expedite process for women to revert to maiden names

Women should be allowed to revert to their maiden surname without the “tedious and expensive” court process associated with it, Senator Manuel “Lito” Lapid said yesterday.

Lapid filed recently Senate Bill No. 985, also known as the Reversion to Maiden Name Act.

The bill, according to Lapid, intends to empower women to be truly independent in their social and economic affairs by granting them freedom to use their maiden surname.

The explanatory note in the bill states that in the current law, a married woman has the option to use her husband’s surname, but is not required to do so.

However, with the current regulatory set-up, Lapid pointed out that there still were barriers for the exercise of this right of reversion to maiden name.

He said there were still “discriminatory policies and practices” in some government agencies which require a married woman to adopt her husband's surname in application forms and other records and even refuse to process legitimate transactions of married women who opt to use their maiden names.

“An example is the case of a woman seeking a passport but is separated from her husband. Current laws state that the woman’s surname can only be changed when her husband is dead or their marriage has been annulled or you were married abroad and your husband has divorced her. What if the woman has been married abroad and was already divorced by her husband,” he said in Pilipino.

Under Republic Act. No. 8239, known as the Philippine Passport Act, a divorce decree recognized under Philippine law, a declaration of annulment of marriage or declaration of nullity of marriage is a requirement for the issuance of passports for divorced or annulled women.