Marriage and Divorce

            The Philippines, one of the only societies where separation and divorce is deemed illegal. Whether forever may exist in love or not, divorce should allow the ‘love-lost’ individuals to recoup and find their true love. Looking at history, divorce and annulment are no strangers to the Philippines as divorce laws had existed during the American colonial period and Japanese occupation in the first half of the twentieth century. This, however, became prohibited when the 1949 Civil Code was enacted. As a result of the strong influence of the conservative Catholic introduction during the Spanish colonial period over the Filipino government, tens to hundreds of thousands of individuals are somewhat ‘jailed’ into their own loveless, potentially abusive marriages.

            While current separation laws do exist in the Philippines today, this only allows each spouse to live apart from each other, and separate their assets. They are not, however, allowed to engage in adultery or concubinage, lest one wishes to face serious charges. And as for declaring nullities of marriages, this allows for the marriage to ‘never have happened’, lying on the grounds that the marriage was bigamous, incestuous, and polygamous, had a lack of a valid marriage license, or was under aged (below 18 years old). Annulment may be allowed under a marriage in the church (Roman Catholic, as is the main religion practiced by the country), however, the process, including having to attain a church and a civil annulment through a church canon lawyer or a state prosecutor, would take about 4 years to do so. Additionally, the process fee would cost you up to about a minimum of PhP180,000.00 to a maximum of, or more than PhP300,000.00, without the lawyer’s fee. Today, it is much more practical to continue on and tolerate your spouse than it is to separate from each other.

            When wanting a ‘separation’, Filipinos tend to find and continue on with another relationship, leaving their marriage behind. While they may still be married on paper however, the marriage ceases to exist for all practical purposes. Problems may arise from this act, which includes “a lack of child support payments, a formal asset division process, and other legal protections that come with a formal divorce” (Stevens). Additionally, while divorce may be considered ruining the sanctity of marriage, “what about the spouses who do not show love, respect and fidelity to their spouses by their acts of marital infidelity, spousal and child abuse, or who continuously fail to comply with the marital obligations? Is that not a form of disrespect to marriage?” (N. Segovia).

            For a country which has a very strong Catholic conscience, is not banning divorce leading to an increase of the ruining and disrespect of the ‘sanctity’ of marriage? While forcefully keeping marriages of those who wish naught to be together, together, is this not a means of forbidding one to find his or her real love, with whom no abuse, neglect, or infidelity will be undeservingly given? On the issue of divorce laws in the Philippines, a new discussion must be conducted with a huge amount of practicality implemented and incorporated in the dialogue, and not biased towards the religious faith of the nation.

 

Leon, S. L. (2014, October 6). The fight to make divorce legal in the Philippines. Retrieved from CNN: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/06/world/asia/philippines-legal-divorce-battle/

Santos, T. H. (2014, October 10). World's last legal ban on divorce doesn't keep Philippines couples together. Retrieved from The Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/worlds-last-legal-ban-on-divorce-doesnt-keep-philippines-couples-together/2014/10/09/d391c54c-4418-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html

Stevens, B. (2014, October 14). Divorce Ban Leads to Unintended Consequences. Retrieved from The Stevens Firm, P.A. Family Law Center: http://www.scfamilylaw.com/divorce-ban-leads-unintended-consequences/

SocSci 10 Z Group 5

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