the Philippines is now having the worlds last legislative debate on divorce. So far, the recent renewed push to legalize divorce is not as controversial as the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill at least not yet. But with our nation being the last one without divorce, the Catholic Church and other opponents of laws dissolving marriage are mukIng LIeIr hnuI sLund In Congress. House Bill No. 1799, or An Act Introducing DIvorce In LIe PIIIIppInes, wus hIed by Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela in 2005, then re-hIed In AugusL IusL yeur by uzvImIndu Ilagan and Emerenciana De Jesus, also for the womens party-list group. It would amend the Family Code of the Philippines, decreed in 1987 by then-President Corazon Aquino, when she temporarily wielded legislative powers. House committee hearings on HB 1799 begun in June drew immediate protest from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Former CBCP president and retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz had warned that passing the RH Bill could open the gates to more contentious legislation, such as divorce and sume-sex murrIuges. Back on the front burner. Now, divorce is back on the front burner. CBCP legal counsel Jo Imbong cited passages from the Constitution to argue that the very idea of divorce violates Philippine law. Opponents also maintain that legal separation and annulment already allowed by the Family Code, address the problem of unhappy and failed marriages. But divorce advocates insist those two remedies are not enough. The grounds for annulment focus on events at the time of the wedding, rather than the marriage itself. Legal separation, on the other hand, while allowing couples to live apart, does The Worlds Last Divorce Debate Does the Philippines need a divorce law? By Maria Carmina Olivar CONTENTS BUSINESS WORLD NATION 19 not actually put an end to the marriage. In effect, it maintains a marital status that cIeurIy no Ionger reecLs LIe reIuLIonsIIp between former spouses. The current Divorce Bill would terminate marriage, not just separate couples or declare that a marriage was null and void from the start, which seems to many as a kInd oI IeguIIzed hcLIon. TIe meusure wouId also eliminate condonation of/consent to the act of marital abuse as grounds for denying petitions for separation or divorce. The Divorce Bill would also better address hnuncIuI Issues LIrougI equuI dIvIsIon oI conjugal assets and spousal support for former partners who are not gainfully employed. Other bills offer similar solutions. Early this year Bayan Muna Representative NerI CoImenures hIed HB 3952, or An Act RecognIzIng SpousuI VIoIence, nhdeIILy and Abandonment as Presumptive Psychological Incapacity Constituting a Ground for the Annulment of Marriage. Instead of instituting divorce, Colmenares wunLs Lo expund LIe grounds Ior unnuImenL. The Catholic Church still objects to HB 3952, however. A yeur beIore Rep. CoImenures hIed HB 3952, another womens party-list group, 1-Ako Babaeng Astig Aasenso (1-ABAA), urged a 10-year limit on a marriage contracts validity, with an option for renewal, as has been proposed in the U.S. Though 1-ABAA initially reported positive reactions to their proposal, the Church held its ground and opposed it, and the idea did not gain much traction after the initial media coverage. Trying to make a comeback since 1999. The divorce law has been trying to make a comeback here in the Philippines for more than a decade now. In 1999, RepresenLuLIve MunueI OrLegu hIed HB 6993. Two years later Senator Rodolfo Biazon championed Senate Bill No. 782, wIIIe RepresenLuLIve BeIIuor Anguru- CusLIIIo hIed House BIII No. 8;8. AII LIree were entitled, An Act Legalizing Divorce, Amending for the Purpose Title II and ArLIcIes Lo 6; TIereunder oI ExecuLIve Order No. zoq, us Amended by ExecuLIve Order No. 227, Otherwise Known as the Family Code of the Philippines. WIII LIe new dIvorce bIIIs hIed by GubrIeIu hnuIIy guIn LrucLIon? BoLI Iuve LIe IocuI womens rights groups all up in arms and ready to defend their stance. The issue has half of the public backing it, according to an SWS survey earlier this year. But with the RH Bill having stirred the Catholic Church into political action, opponents of divorce ure uIso prImed Ior u bIg hgIL. And noL jusL LIe PIIIIppIne IIerurcIy. VuLIcun envoy Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto declared that being the only nation with no divorce law was a point of honor for the country. The worlds last divorce debate CONTENTS BUSINESS WORLD NATION