Manila takes big step to legalise divorce

manila — The mainly Catholic Philippines, the only country apart from the Vatican to ban divorce, took a first big step towards legalising it on Monday when the lower house of congress passed a bill.

The measure, which would allow a divorced partner to marry another person of the opposite sex, passed on third reading by 134-57 with two abstentions, the House of Representatives secretariat said.

The bill will become law if the Senate (upper house) also passes it and President Rodrigo Duterte fails to use his veto.

“In divorce and dissolution of marriage proceedings, there is no more marriage to protect or union to destroy because the marriage has long perished,” said opposition leader Edcel Lagman.

“The institution of absolute divorce and dissolution of marriage does not negate the steadfast commitment of the state to protect and preserve marriage as a social institution and as the foundation of the family.” Duterte spokesman Harry Roque revealed that the president opposed divorce, but did not say whether he would veto the bill if it reached his desk.

“The president is against divorce. He said the children will suffer,” Roque told reporters, while adding he recognised the prevailing sentiment in the House.

At present the only way to exit a failed union is to bring an embarrassing, expensive and labyrinthine civil case of annulment in which a judge declares a marriage invalid — generally because the spouses have a “psychological incapacity”. —