Philippines tiptoes toward legalization of divorce
PHILIPPINES - Lennie Visbal last saw her husband, Joel, 13 years ago. Even then, she said, “it was like looking at a stranger.” But since divorce is not possible in the Philippines, Ms. Visbal can’t escape him.
“I’m in limbo, I cannot move,” Ms. Visbal said. “Every time, there is a reminder that I’m legally attached to him.”
The Philippines is the only country in the world, aside from Vatican City, where divorce remains illegal. Ms. Visbal, 52, a Philippine citizen who works as a teaching assistant in Thailand, has gone back to using her maiden name socially, but on all official documents she still carries her husband’s last name. He is not involved in their son’s life and provides no financial support, but on paper retains equal custody. For official transactions, such as when their son needed a passport, Ms. Visbal turned to an intermediary to get signed permission from her husband. Ms. Visbal is haunted by the thought that if she died, her social security benefits would go to her estranged husband and that he would also have a claim to inherit the small seaside property where she plans to retire. A move to allow full divorces for the first time in the Philippines is offering people like Ms. Visbal some hope. Under a bill approved by the House of Representatives on March 19, a wide range of reasons, including irreconcilable differences, abandonment, infidelity and abuse, would become legal grounds for ending a marriage.
The bill would need to be approved in the Senate then go to the president for review. While the Senate is required to give the measure a first reading and refer it for committee review once Congress is back in session on May 15, the conservative Senate majority leader, Vicente Sotto III, has openly opposed divorce and could delay putting the measure on the calendar. President Rodrigo Duterte has not commented on the current measure. But during the campaign in 2016, he said he was against divorce, a stance reiterated recently by his spokesman Harry Roque. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, one of Mr. Duterte’s closest allies and a co-author of the bill, says he is optimistic he can bring the president around. No bill on divorce has ever made it this far in Congress. The measure is the rare piece of legislation supported by representatives from both the majority and opposition parties in the House. A survey released this month found that 53 percent of Filipinos support legalizing divorce.
(The New York Times)