Only one country other than the Vatican bans divorce – that could be about to change

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The Philippines is the only country in the world, other than the tiny Vatican, where divorce is illegal. But this may soon change, as the nation of nearly 116 million people awaits a new piece of legislation that is expected to finally put an end to the old law.

The Absolute Divorce Bill, which lays out a number of circumstances to allow divorce in a country with an 80 per cent Catholic population, was passed by the House of Representatives on 22 May and sent for further deliberation to the Senate.

The bill will become law if it passes through the upper chamber of parliament.

At least five of the 24 senators have come out in support of the bill, a significant number in a legislature where conservative lawmakers backed by the Catholic Church hold considerable sway.

It’s nearly half a millennium since the Spanish first colonised the Philippines, yet the indelible imprint of their more than 300-year rule on the Southeast Asian country has left thousands of couples trapped in long-dead marriages.

A similar bill in 2018 died in the Senate after running into strong opposition from its conservative members.

The new bill narrowly passed the lower chamber on its third reading by a slim margin of 126 votes in favour, 109 against, and 20 abstentions.

The principal author of the bill, Edcel Lagman, is hopeful that it will go the distance.

“I am optimistic that before the end of the sitting parliament in 2025, we will join the community of nations in legalising divorce,” Mr Lagman said.

He said the proposed law is constitutional and does not violate Catholic doctrines.

The powerful Catholic Church and anti-divorce politicians, however, have described pro-divorce activism as “irrational advocacy”.

“There will no longer be stability in marriage with the legalisation of divorce,” Gina Rama, a member of the Daughters of St Paul, a Catholic religious congregation, said.

“The marriage vows made in the name of God and the promise to stay for better and for worse until death will become merely a lip service.”

The Philippines has effectively banned divorce since its colonisation by Spain in the 16th century. The Catholic Church established its influence during the colonial period and Catholic teachings became deeply embedded in Filipino law and culture. The Spanish Civil Code, which governed the Philippines during that time, did not allow for divorce, reflecting the Catholic Church’s doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage.

After gaining independence from Spain in 1898, the Philippines briefly adopted a legal framework under the American colonial government that included provisions for divorce. However, after the Philippines became a commonwealth in 1935, the Catholic Church regained influence and divorce was prohibited again in 1950.

The Civil Code passed in 1949 allowed for legal separation and annulment but did not reinstate divorce. It has remained in place, with only minor amendments, solidifying the divorce ban.

In 1977, then president Ferdinand Marcos Sr legalised divorce for Muslims through a presidential decree, but the law remained for Protestants, Buddhists and people of other religions.

The grounds for annulment in the Philippines include psychological incapacity, sex reassignment surgery, parental consent, fraud, and separation of spouses for five years, but not physical abuse, abandonment or infidelity.

Although victims in cases of physical abuse and infidelity can pursue a legal separation, allowing them to live independently, they remain legally married to their abusers.

The grounds must be proven in court and the annulment process can be lengthy, complicated and expensive, which is why there is growing support for legalising divorce.

The proposed legislation seeks to widen the reasons for which a marriage can be dissolved, experts said. These include physical abuse towards the spouse or their child, coercion into prostitution, infidelity, abandonment, or any other circumstance for which only legal separation is currently permitted.

Support for a divorce law has been growing in the country.

A survey by the Social Weather Stations research institution in March found that 50 per cent of Filipino adults support the bill and 31 per cent oppose it. The rest were undecided.

This was a considerable jump from 2005 when 43 per cent of the population favoured divorce and 45 per cent wanted it to remain illegal.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr supported a divorce law when he came into office in 2022. He was of the view that while some cases necessitated divorce it shouldn’t be “like other places where getting a divorce is so easy”.

Mr Lagman said he will continue to fight and lobby senators to get the bill approved.

He anticipates the constitutionality of the bill, if it passes the Senate, to be challenged in the Supreme Court.

“Which is why we are in talks with the Supreme Court to explain what the bill is all about,” the lawmaker said.