It’s heartbreaking to be in an unhappy marriage, but staying in it when your relationship’s vibrance has withered away is a more painful experience for other Filipino women.
In Catholic countries, such as the Philippines, where divorce isn’t legal, what can be done when the vow to be lifelong partners doesn’t resonate anymore?
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez is proposing a House bill as a solution to unhappy, loveless marriages. Among Speaker Alvarez’ advocacies is to pass a dissolution of marriage bill that aims to help parties trapped in loveless marriages.
Under this bill, parties will be freed from the process of annulment by allowing couples to jointly petition the court for the dissolution of their marriage.
“Gawin nating hindi painful sa parties kasi ‘yung annulment painful masyado sa families kasi ang dami eh. ‘Yung kabilang party aakusahan mo na merong psychological incapacity ‘di ba? Dito, dissolution of marriage sabihin natin both parties will agree,” Alvarez said in a media interview.
“Ngayon, ‘di pwede that’s a ground for denial of annulment, collusion between the parties. Bakit niyo gagawin ‘yan? Dito sa batas na ito, both parties can agree and jointly petition the court for the dissolution of the marriage,” Alvarez added.
One of the controversial grounds for annulment of marriage is psychological incapacity that generally requires proving that one partner was not of sound mind at the moment of the marriage.
Alvarez said he is not proposing a divorce bill but only seeks to help couples deal with the pains of separation.
“Halimbawa, ‘di tayo magkasundo, ‘di na tayo masaya sa isa’t isa, we can go to court and petition jointly for the dissolution of our marriage. Then doon sa petition na iyon mag-agree na tayo, custody of children, paano mo hatiin ‘yung properties. Ang duty ng judge, ministerial na lang. Titignan niya kung walang intimidation, kung may free will ba ang parties to enter into an agreement na di-dissolve ang marriage,” Alvarez said.
The House Speaker also said that if one of the parties do not agree with the dissolution, the other can still petition on the ground of unhappiness. He defended that this bill won’t be undermining the institution of marriage.
“Ito mas napo-protektahan natin ‘yung marriage as an institution. Why? Because ‘pag nagpakasal ang two parties kailangan ‘yung spouses na ‘yun must see to it na masaya ‘yung kaniyang partner,” he added.
Conflict of interest
However, Alvarez has been criticized in proposing this bill for his conflict of interest. To recall, Alvarez faced the possibility of losing his speakership after admitting his affair with Jennifer Maliwanag Vicencio, even if he is still legally married to estranged wife Emelita Alvarez.
The speaker clarified, though, that he and his wife are no longer talking with each other. “Diyos ko naman. Kayo naman, sino bang walang girlfriend? (My God, come on, who doesn’t have a girlfriend?)” Alvarez was quoted to have said.
